RWBY: The Redeemer
by ahsoei
Summary: The last things he remembered before everything went black were giant monsters, flashes of lightning, and sounds of thunder. By the time he woke up, everything around him had drastically changed, including the people who are dear to him. He will have to come to terms with the world that moved way ahead of him, as well as his destiny.
1. Prologue

**RWBY: The Redeemer**

 **Beta-read by Starlight's Poet**

 **Prologue**

* * *

 _Legends - stories scattered through time. Mankind has grown quite fond of recounting the exploits of heroes and villains, forgetting so easily that we are remnants, byproducts, of a forgotten past._

 _Man, was born from dust, strong, wise, and resourceful; but he was born into an unforgiving world. An inevitable darkness - Creatures of Destruction - the Creatures of Grimm - set their sights on man and all of his creations. These forces clashed, and it seemed the darkness was intent to bring back the man's brief existence to the void._

 _However, even the smallest spark was enough to ignite a change; and in time, man's passion, resourcefulness, and ingenuity led them to the tools that would help them to even the odds - the power was appropriately named 'Dust'._

 _Wrath of Nature in hand, men lit their way through darkness, and in shadow's absence came strength, civilization, and most importantly, LIFE. But even the most brilliant light will eventually flicker and die…. And when the light dies, darkness will return._

 _So go ahead - prepare your guardians, build your monuments to a so-called 'free world'. But take heed, there will be no victory in strength._

* * *

A roar echoed through the air of dark night tainted with the scent of dust, grime and blood; coming from a massive horde of black creatures - illuminated by the light of (partially) shattered moon. The creatures assumed various forms, some of them resembling birds, mammals, primates, reptiles, even other beasts that people only found in fairytales. All of these monsters were covered in black fur, complete with bone-like protrusions with red and yellow linings that served as some kind of armour.

A group of 8 people was assembled before the horde. However, all of their appearances showed that they had seen better days, as they stood their ground before their enemies - who were growling, gnashing, looking at them with hunger and malice in their glowing eyes.

The rear of the group was consisted of four people supporting each other on their feet - and they were in bad state.

One was a man with slanted, dark-green eyes and bright, orange hair with long bangs covering his right eye, and his face was covered in light scratches. He was clad in red-lined black suit with long white pants and matching shoes. His appearance would have looked rather flashy and immaculate if it were not for soot covering his white pants; he was also clearly, barely holding himself up from his laboured breathing and sweat running on his face. His right arm was holding a cane that supported him, while his left arm hefted another person.

That another person was a young man with short blonde hair, with two small strands sticking out on top of his head - which was also trickling blood that flowed down to the bridge of his nose. His eyes were bluish lilac, and his attire consisted of cargo pants with dark brown belt, black shoes, an orange bandana on his left arm, and a brown leather vest over a tan dress shirt with the right sleeve cut-off. He was also sporting a metal spaulder, leather vambrace, and brown fingerless glove - all of them were equipped on his right arm. The lack of weapons on his person hinted the possibility of the man being a bare-handed combatant.

The next pair was a man supporting a woman to stand up. The man - covered in dust and soot - possessed a black, spiky hair and a pair of dull red eyes. His attire was a grey dress shirt with a long tail, black dress pants, and matching shoes. A red, tattered cloak - shorter than the man at vanguard, was also attached on his back. While hefting the woman next to him, his free arm was holding a large scythe that he used to support himself.

Lastly, the young woman was holding down the pain that came from his bleeding waist. She possessed a fair skin and black raven hair that was let loose to her back with a cowlick sticking out a the top; wore a shallow-cut red and black dress, five necklaces with an assortment of beads, a red girdle belt, and a pair of matching gauntlets. On her hip was a sheathed sword - with the scabbard containing a rotary chamber filled with colourful substance. The woman was clearly beyond exhausted, as she was barely awake with her eyes dropping, struggling to remain conscious. Her fluttering eyelids revealed a pair of red eyes, not unlike the man supporting her, gazing upon the vanguard of the whole group.

The vanguard of the group was another four people in better state - the one at the rear was a young man with tall - kind of lanky build and green hair. He was clad in dark brown leather coat over khaki buttoned safari shirt - that was stained with dirt, and a pith helmet. His hands were holding what appeared to be a long metal torch with flame dancing on the tip.

In front of the green-hair, was a man with shorter build, yet his posture showed a certain robustness. His face, however, looked haggard - making him looked kind of older than the rest despite his age being in late teens. His black hair was immaculately gelled and he was wearing a burgundy suit with gold piping and buttons. However, the said suit was ruined with several tears here and there, few buttons missing, and soot that covered the whole attire. He was also pointing a blunderbuss with an axe blade attached to the stock.

The next one was a young woman with fair complexion, shoulder-length black hair with black-to-red gradation, and a pair of silver eyes glaring at the beast. Her attire was covered with a white hooded cloak, while her hands were holding a twin-bladed weapon.

Finally, the spear-tip of the group was a slightly older-looking young man with a similar appearance with the woman behind him, complete with silver eyes as well. The only difference was that his hair was swept back, revealing more of his face. He was also sporting a hooded cloak, but unlike the woman's, the cloak was red in colour and did not completely clasped to cover his attire, which was consisted of a leather pants with shin and knee-guard, along with matching boots, and a sleeveless armour with several round plattings on his torso that revealed his well-toned arms. The said each arms were equipped with a sizeable sword and metal heater shield with black and silver theme, with a silver rose emblem embedded on the middle.

Their day was not supposed to take this kind of turn. It all began when their professions required them to do some joint reconnaissance on foreign land, as well as search & destroy should there be hostiles inbound.

However, just when they were about to conclude their joint-operation, they discovered a massive horde of creatures of grimm moving in a unison towards the nearest human settlement. It took a minute to debate and reach an agreement that the 2 teams of 4 would call for reinforcement from the Kingdom of Vale. However, because the distance needed to be covered, and the grimm creatures were too close for comfort towards a nearby village, everyone agreed to hold the monsters off until their back-up arrived.

And here they were - while each of them was formidable combatant in their own right, the grimm finally overwhelmed the humans with their sheer number that was virtually endless.

"How long until our reinforcement arrives!?" the vanguard - the man in red cloak, shouted at his comrades behind him.

The one with orange hair grimaced as he laid his cane on him so his arm could see his handheld console - scroll. "...ETA 6 minutes!"

The man took in the reply, and he glanced at his fellow vanguards - particularly at the woman with the same silver eyes as his. Silent communication from the trust they had built over the years were exchanged, and they nodded in agreement. "Pops, Summer, with me!" the man looked at the woman and the tall man, whom nodded in return.

"Barty, you and Rome will make sure the rest of the STRQ make it back to safety! The rest of us will buy you some time!" he ordered at the green-haired man.

'Barty' looked unconvinced, but another look from his (presumably) leader made him nodded in affirmative, as they had too little time to argue. 'Barty' then spewed a massive stream of fire from his torch, creating a firewall that kept the monsters at bay, before retreated to the rear group and turned to the man with orange hair. "We heard the man, Rome. Let's move out!"

"Oh, so _now_ he wants us to retreat!" 'Rome' replied with sarcastic tone, which 'Barty' only replied with a pointed look. "...Ugh, fine! Come on, big guy. Man, you sure are heavier than you look!" 'Rome' said as he tugged at the 'Big Guy' to keep up.

"...Well, excuse you, pretty boy!" the 'Big Guy' retorted with a grunt, despite his injured state.

'Barty' only huffed while shaking his head in little amusement, and he alternately followed the withdrawal and keeping an eye at any incoming hostile, his torch - flamethrower at the ready.

'Rome' then turned his head at the remaining pair - the man and woman with black hair and red eyes. "Come on, this way! We gotta go, we'll only get in their way at this rate!"

As the group began to walk however, the woman with raven black hair wheezed out. "Wait… What about them? What are they doing?" her voice sounded weak, but still audible enough to be heard by her comrades.

"You know better than to doubt my and your leader respectively." Roman was the one to reply with confident smirk. "...By the looks of things, they will catch up with us as soon as reinforcement arrives. We all will make this out alive, go home, then you and my boss can be all over each other or whatever again." he finished with a knowing smirk.

The woman only gave a narrowed glare as she reluctantly hefted by the man next to her, who was sporting amused expression. She pursed her lips as she turned her head at the battle, her red eyes lingered at the back of the so-called 'boss' for few seconds, before she reluctantly withdraw.

When the rear group moved, the grimm also took it as their cue to launch their onslaught as well. However, the vanguard beat them to it. "POPS!" the man in red cloak shouted while fierce look and grin on his face. "...FUCKIN' LIGHT 'EM THE FUCK UP!"

The woman - Summer gasped and turned to the 'leader' with mortified look. "Brother! What did I tell you about swearing?!" she shouted back with indignant tone at the man who was apparently her brother - whom only maintained his grin at the scolding.

"Got it!" 'Pops' replied after a short amused laugh as he just finished loading something on his blunderbuss. He pointed the gun upwards, and he fired what it seemed to be a ball of shrapnel - which exploded in the air, unleashing explosive pellets that rained down upon the beasts beyond 'Barty's' firewall.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Massive explosions erupted in the middle of the grimm horde, causing disruption and disorientation among the monsters.

"Now, give 'em hell!"

Using the monster's moment of weakness, the leader shouted and the three vanguard jumped through the firewall, attacking the nearest monsters.

Their seemingly last stand had just begun.

oXo

At one location of the warzone, 'Pops' was using his bladed end and the blunderbuss end alternately, swinging and twirling his weapon with fluid movements of his short frame - decimating his own fair share of the beasts. One beast - one akin to a werewolf tried to flank him and swiped its claws across his back, but while the clothes covering 'Pops' back was shredded, there was no sign of his skin shedding blood whatsoever. 'Pops' then turned at the offending grimm and retaliated with a nasty haymaker that launched the wolf grimm to a distance hurling through its compatriots that unfortunate enough to stand in the way.

Across the warzone, however, grimm were falling down one by one as white blur zig-zagging through them, the twin-blade carving through the black mass to smoke. At one spot, the woman in white cloak - Summer appeared, brandishing her twin blade sword in her arms. She then began to dance, swinging her arms and blade - decimating the grimm into pieces left and right. She finished her onslaught with an overhead strike that cleaved a gorilla-looking grimm in half.

Then, suddenly a hulking bear grimm came from behind her, ready to pounce on her seemingly defenceless back.

ZAP!

However, the grimm found itself pouncing an empty air, and the second it realised that its surprise attack had failed, a blade pierced through its skull - courtesy of the young woman who somehow managed to 'warp' above. Then, when she was about to have a quick moment to breath, she looked up and saw two giant black birds flying towards the direction where the rest of her comrades were retreating. There was not any sign yet of reinforcement arriving - she could not let the two massive flying grimm to reach her teammates. She then closed her eyes in deep concentration, as if trying to tap into some hidden power within her.

In that moment, the grimm around Summer took her silence as an opportunity to strike her down, and several werewolves and bear-looking creatures jumped on her. However, for the woman, times seemed to slow down when she opened her eyes, which was gleaming in silver light, glancing at the surrounding grimm that were still in mid-air, as well as the two air-borne bird-grimm.

It only took a fraction of second, the light in Summer's silver eyes suddenly grew brighter, engulfing the area and nearby grimm surrounding her. The black creatures suddenly vanished into smoke when the light touched them, as if the light was cleansing the taint in the world. Then, the woman shot up towards the nearest, giant bird-grimm in a blur - no, she shot like the white light itself.

The first bird-grimm let out an agonizing caw as a bullet of light pierced through and left a sizeable hole on the centre of its body. As the bird fell down, the white light had blitzed towards the second giant black bird. Summer tightened her grip on her blade, and with her current velocity, she dug her blade deep through the bird's hide, and she pushed forward, cleaving through the giant bird into half.

Not bothering to check her handiwork, Summer kept blitzing around the air as she decided to engage more airborne black monsters.

Back to the ground, the 'leader' just witnessed the feat his (apparently) sister just pulled on the night sky above. After decapitating what appeared to be a bear-like creature, the 'leader' smiled gleefully - feeling that he also needed to step-up his game as well.

He then sheathed his sword into his heater shield. However, when the clicking sound was heard from the weapon conjoined together, the sword handle that was attached to the shield suddenly extended; as for the shield - it rotated 180 degrees before the plating surrounding the silver rose emblem puffed out a small steam, then separated and re-adjusted their positions.

When the whole mechanism had done its job, the man was now sporting a great axe.

The man then ran towards what appeared to be a giant elephant grimm with his great axe in tow, and as soon as he entered the range, he jumped with his great axe raised high. While in mid-air, electric current could be seen running on his torso, to his arms, until the electricity concentrated on the axe-head, before he slammed the weapon upon the beast's head.

BOOM!

An explosion of electric sparks erupted as soon as the hit connected, followed with an electrical aftershock-wave that knocked back the surrounding grimm as well . Despite the elephant's thick boney-mask, the force behind the swing was more than enough to crush the elephant's skull, even caved in the ground beneath. The elephant then evaporated into black smoke, signifying its demise.

Another grimm immediately lunged at the leader's back, but a white blur appeared and the beast's attack was stopped by a nasty stab through torso, all the way to the ground. The large blade keeping the dead creature in place.

The leader turned to address his apparent saviour. "You're still here." he said in joking tone.

"Well, someone has to watch your back." Summer then brandished her weapon and the two warriors began to fight back-to-back, all while talking.

In the midst of the fight, the leader disassembled the great axe into a sword and shield again, then turned to see Summer's silver eyes glowing. "Awakened already? I just finished warming up here." he said with quirked eyebrow and cheeky smile, before he turned to redirect a black werewolf grimm's claws, and quickly threw a lethal stab to another grimm that followed just behind the first one, which he performed several killer combos with his sword at.

"Well, what you're looking at is _my_ way of warming up." Summer replied with smile of her own, all the while separating her twin-bladed into twin swords, and decapitating a pair of grimm at the same time. "Besides, you miss few spots up there..." she pointed at the sky where several aerial grimm were flying. "Gotta cover them for ya." she finished with a wink.

"...You know I can also fly if I want to, don't 'cha?" the leader said as he just bashed a charging grimm off with his shield.

"True, but I'm the faster one." she ran towards her brother, whom quickly understood her intention and bent over - allowing Summer to vault over his back and decimate another grimm.

"Honestly, yours is not exactly flying in my eyes. You're more like blitzing through the sky like an arrow." the leader recovered and began to engage another grimm.

"Meh, scoreboards, bro. Scoreboards." Summer ended their short argument with a wave of her hand, before she shot up to the sky again to engage more airborne grimm.

However, as she just decimated the nth grimm, she failed to react when _something_ else was coming at her fast.

"Aagh!"

The scream made the leader turning his head around, to see something just struck his sister down to the ground. "SUMMER!" he yelled out in dread as the woman's body fell from the sky, leaving a small trail of blood in the air.

"I got you!" Fortunately, 'Pops' happened to be nearby as he quickly caught Summer's body - cushioning her fall. The haggard-looking man breathed out in relief once he confirmed that the woman in his arms was still breathing.

When the leader caught up with them, 'Pops' loaded what appeared to be a red crystal into his blunderbuss, and fired to the air like his first volley. However, when the pellets dispersed, the explosion also ignited a good amount of flame that blazed to keep the grimm at bay like firewall that Barty deployed earlier.

While the grimm was still busy dealing with the firewall before them, the leader quickly took a look at his sister. There was a noticeable tear on her clothes, her shoulder to be precise. Both men saw a small gash on the same spot beneath the torn fabric, leaking a little blood. However, the amount of red stain on the white cloak signified that the wound was supposed to be worse than its current state. The girl herself was barely awake - breathing heavily from extreme exhaustion. To begin with, the vanguard was not exactly in their prime condition when they made their stand.

"Looks like the Awakening managed to heal her enough before deactivating…" the 'leader' summarised with critical eye. He could confirm his theory later - the current problem was what sort of bastard dared and managed to harm Summer.

When the two men turned their heads, their eyes frozen at the new sight - a new grimm towering in front of them.

"By the gods…."

"...The fuck?"

'Pops' and 'leader' were looking at something… **abominable** , to put it simply. According to history, creatures of grimm were created by god of darkness with one goal in mind - destroying life. The grimm then set their sights on mankind when the god of darkness' brother - god of light created humanity to end the feud between light and darkness. Thus, it was only natural that grimm creatures assumed beast and wild animals that could be found attacking humans in general.

However, if some of species that creatures of grimm took on, could be traced to fairy tales, the towering creature at the back of the horde was more something coming out from horror story.

It was a titanic, ominous looking monster – making it easily looked taller and bigger than the rest of the grimm. It stood on two legs, making it somewhat humanoid, but by no means the creature resembled any human at all. The fur covering its body looked even darker than the rest of the creatures, like an everlasting void. What discerned it from the rest of the grimm beneath it was the fact that, the bony protrusion looked more similar like armour that covered its face, limbs, and torso, with several large spikes adorning its head like a crown. Its rather small mouth was filled with multiple sets of pointy teeth. Its shoulders, wrists and fingers were clad in skeletal armour with red linings, carved with an appearance of multitude snakes' heads with sharp fangs, with the fingers being large claws. Its knee-guards had the appearance of snake skulls. Lastly, a large, spiked tail was hanging on its back.

It released a blood-curling howl, snapping the warriors out their stupor, making them winced at the sheer volume of the sound. The surrounding grimm around the behemoth also howled in unison, as if they were cheering at their King.

The 'leader' of the group looked around between the grimm horde and his compatriots. From his observations, things would go south if he did not make a decision. Summer was unlikely to join the fight anytime soon; 'Pops' might still be able to go on, but he might as well running on fumes soon enough; he was probably in a better condition than the two, but who knew how long he would be able to hold.

He then took a quick look at his scroll – it was still another three minutes before their back-up arrived, but it was a matter of minutes, maybe even seconds before the grimm attacked them again – they believed that they had taken down quite amount of them, but their numbers did not seem to change. In fact, the appearance of the titanic grimm only made the situation worse. At least the creatures had become cautious as they had yet to make their own move - perhaps they gave the humans time to breath out of arrogance instead out of fear.

Lastly, he looked up to the sky. He was not sure how long the whole ordeal had gone on, but he noticed a change in the colour-hue in the sky, as well as the fading light of the shattered moon - dawn is approaching, and there were clouds visible to his eyes. He could work something out.

The 'leader' finally came to a decision. "Peter…" he turned to 'Pops' - Peter. "…Look after Summer and get out of here." He gestured at the down young woman.

Apprehensive look appeared in Peter's eyes. "What about you, then?" He asked a question which he dreaded the answer already.

"I'll stay here and hold the line a bit longer." gone was any light-hearted sign from the leader's eyes.

Now the apprehensive look turned mortified in Peter's wide eyes. "Are you out of your mind!? We can't leave you alone here!"

"Yes, you can." But the leader vehemently replied.

"No, no, no. That's not happening." Peter argued. "Boss, we just need to hold on for another few minutes until reinforcement-!"

"We don't have such luxury!" the leader shot back. "Summer is out for the count, we both know we can't fight and protect her at the same time! Just get the hell out of here and I'll catch up! That's an order!" he finished his sentence with looks that demanded no argument.

Peter winced; both men then looked down to see Summer's hand reached out and grabbed the hem of the leader's red cloak. The woman moaned weakly as her fingers clasped the fabric. "C...laude…" She tried to say something, but could barely spelled out the leader's name - Claude, because she was too tired to even form a word. Her eyes were fluttering between consciousness and unconsciousness.

Claude's eyes softened upon the woman before he took off his cloak and wrapped it around Summer like a blanket. "Just rest up, sis…. Things are gonna be fine." He said in soft and reassuring tone, running his hand gently across Summer's head - lulling her back to sleep, before his eyes hardened and turned to Peter. "…Go, _now_!"

Peter grimaced – he bit his lower lip with closed eyes, before he stood up with Summer over his shoulders in fireman carry – displaying a feat of strength despite his short height. "...Everyone, especially the two ladies…" Peter glanced down at Summer. "…Are _so_ going to grill you later." The man said with pointed look.

"What's with that line? Nothing like, 'it's been an honour, sir' for your kick-ass boss?" Claude cheekily replied.

"That only happens if I were actually going to stand by your side, which you did not allow. Not to mention, you are not exactly an exemplary leader." Peter merely replied with light shake of his head. "...But good luck, sir. We will be waiting for you." he said with a smile before turning back.

The leader only snorted as he turned around to face the enemy horde. "...Just go."

Peter nodded one last time before he took off. As if sensing that one of their prey was about to get away, the grimm charged again. A large two headed, black and white serpent was the first to shoot towards the retreating Peter.

Then without warning, a massive axe slammed upon the giant snake, the section that connected the two heads and the body. The leader then turned his glare at the horde, his silver eyes began to glow. "...COME AND GET SOME!" he roared while hefting his axe over his shoulder.

The grimm howled in defiance, and both man and monsters charged at each other. The former raised his axe high, and the cloud above flashed to send a lightning bolt on top of the axe, followed with the sound of thunder. The axe crackled with blue sparks of electricity and the man brought down the weapon to the ground.

BOOM!

The mighty impact of the metal and the earth produced what appeared as 'thunder shockwave' that bulldozed a massive amount of grimm, along with the entire ground as well, with a single blow. However, the titanic grimm also possessed its own nasty surprise.

Its limbs seemed to… _entangle_ themselves. What was once a solid mass suddenly morphed into a mass writhing growling snake-like creatures. Each snake possessed blood red eyes and sharp fangs. What was more horrifying was the grimms face; its maws opened to reveal another set of mouths with fangs overlapping each other. Its body haunch over, making its form looked more monstrous than it already was.

The leader only groaned at the grotesque sight. "...Oh, for fuck's sake…"

The titan grimm unleashed another earth-shattering howl - which was followed by by streams of flame-like energy fired, not only from the beats' overlapping maws, but some from the serpet-like heads that made out his limbs as well, destroying the landscape around Claude, not bothering to regard the lesser grimm that were caught in the crossfire.

The man zig-zagged through the onslaught, grunting while shrugging off the sheer heat across his skin, despite avoiding any contact. He knew that he could no longer holding back if he wanted to stand any chance against the abomination before him. He had people he needed to protect behind him.

He charged forward while closing his eyes - at the same time, the clouds above started to gather again and let out flashes of lightning and thunder. He awakened the dormant potential within him, and when he opened his eyes, he roared, causing the nearby grimm around him to vanish from the bright light that flashed from his person.

The lightning and thunder brewed out into a storm as the man shot up to the air, sparks of electricity running around his frame, making his body and silver eyes brimming with unaldurated _power_ , all while the lightning and thunder kept dancing around him.

The abomination directed its full attention at the man flying at him, and both of them - man and monster roared at each other defiantly. The latter bore all of its limbs, claws and fangs while the former prepared his great axe for a decisive battle.

Then a massive lightning struck.

oXo

The group that retreated earlier was in the middle recovery at the edge of some remote village. 'Rome' just finished bandaging the head of the 'big guy', with a tap on the head. "There, good as new."

"You kind of suck at this first aid thing…." the 'big guy' shook his head a bit before smiling. "...But thanks."

"Gee, you're welcome." 'Rome' replied with a light scoff, then he saw 'Barty' was approaching him, the last pair of the injured could be seen behind him, having been patched up and all as well. "How's Tai, Roman?" 'Barty' asked about the 'big guy' - Tai's condition.

"He will live." 'Rome' - Roman simply replied as he stood up and addressed his teammate. "...How are the Branwens?"

Barty glanced behind at the man and woman pair - the Branwens. "You know those siblings are strong. Raven and Qrow will recover sooner than we thought."

"Fair enough; makes me wondering who's gonna get more credits later, the Roses or Branwens..." Roman shrugged when the sound of several engines were heard from the sky.

Everyone looked up to see at least a dozen aircrafts were flying at the direction where they fought the grimm horde. "...Tch, they're late." Roman clicked his tongue at the sight of their supposedly reinforcement.

"By close to one minute, but I suppose that's better than never." Barty added after checking his own scroll.

Then, not long after, the group saw Peter carrying Summer on his shoulder running towards them.

The first who reacted and approached first was the woman with black hair. She used her sword as a crutch to support her weight, followed by the man with black hair, Tai, Roman and Barty.

The first two men who followed the raven-haired woman quickly took Summer off Peter's shoulder and tended to her. "...Where is he?" the raven-haired woman asked Peter after looking around for one missing person. She did not have to elaborate who she was asking about.

Peter's expression soured as he bit his lower lip, before he turned back towards the direction where the fight ensued. From a distance, everyone could see what appeared as lightning storm.

"No…" The woman's face got pale as she mustered herself to walk forward. "...We have to go back!"

"No, you stay here, Raven!" Peter kept the woman - Raven from taking another step. "...We will go back." Without another word, Roman and Barty took by Peter's side.

"He just had to play hero by himself again. The nerve of that guy..." Roman groaned while rolling his eyes. Barty could not help but giggle in agreement.

However, just when the three men turned their heels around, they saw a giant ball of plasma erupted from where the fight took place, followed by the sound of thundering explosion. The plasma exploded, kicking up massive wind and dust to blow all the way towards the location where the group was.

Everyone shielded their eyes from the ensuing bright light and the airborne grime. When they regain their sight, everything was silent.

"CLAUDE!"

Everyone turned to see Summer jolted out from unconsciousness. She quickly stood up and strode towards the rest of the group in seconds, regardless of the other men's attempts to keep her down. "P-Peter, Claude…! My brother-! We gotta help him!" she stumbled in her speech, as her expression was filled with dread.

Raven, Peter, Barty and Roman could only stare at babbling Summer with mixed confusion, before they turned to look at the place where the explosion happened. For more reason than one, they had a _very_ bad feeling about this.

True to their premonition, as the dawn broke, everyone went home while grieving and mourning over the lost of not just a leader, teammate, but also an irreplaceable family member.

oXo

Inside a dimly lit chamber in the middle of nowhere, a visage of a woman in black robe and deathly pallor skin was seen standing in the middle.

She was not doing anything in particular when her body suddenly winced. She collapsed to her knees on the floor. Her body began to shake as she brought her hands to her head.

Few seconds later, she threw her head up, revealing jet-black eyes with red irises, as her mouth was wide open, letting out an anguished scream.

"▂▂▂▃▃▃▄▄▄▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅!"

* * *

 _Many years later…_

In a certain location, a battle was taking place - or to be precise, it was about to end; as three people were ganging up on a woman. The said woman possessed a light-brown complexion - with shoulder-length, straight brown hair and a beauty mark below her left eye. She was looking weak, exhausted and in pain - all while being held down by two other people.

The two were a young man and woman. The former possessed a well-built physique and an unkempt grey hair, with his trousers torn revealing two prosthetic metal legs with black boots. The latter was a young woman with medium-brown skin, dark red eyes, and mint-green hair that was tied into a ponytail.

Lastly was another woman standing before the woman in captive; she possessed short, ashen-black hair and a pair of bright amber eyes. She wore a dark-red mini dress with separated sleeves, which was also held up by straps tied around a neck in a bow.

The woman was Cinder Fall - and she was having a good day, judging by her cruel smirk and condescending look upon the woman below her. Her agenda for the day was to seek out and capture a powerful vassal that hosts (literally) thousands years-old force of nature, which represented four seasons: the Seasonal Maidens - Spring, Summer, Autumn/Fall and Winter. In this case, however, the woman she just captured was the embodiment of Autumn - The Fall Maiden.

It had been a fierce, protracted battle when she and her two disciples - Mercury Black and Emerald Sustrai ambushed the Fall Maiden in the middle of the road between Kingdom of Vale and Vacuo.

True to the stories and legends, the Fall Maiden was powerful - having the power of nature and elements at her fingertips, she managed to stand her ground despite her odds in numbers.

Then again, there was a reason why Cinder recruited Emerald and Mercury in the first place; combined with her quick-wits, tactics, as well as several tricks and weapons bestowed by her 'master', Cinder and her two disciples managed to subdue the Fall Maiden.

And now, Cinder had to suppress her grin from showing up, because at last, all of that power would be hers. According to what she learned, the power of Seasonal Maiden could be passed on from host to host. However, due to the nature of the succession, it was unlikely for Cinder to succeed the power through conventional means. Thus, she had to improvise - by force.

The Fall Maiden was powerless - she could not muster enough power to break free from her hold, due to the wounds inflicted by a couple of arrows on her back. She could only watch as the woman in red before her - Cinder, put on a white glove with red symbols and markings on the back of the hand.

As Cinder pointed her glove-covered palm at the Fall Maiden's face, a black insect suddenly emerged from the palm, and shot a black substance that latched on the maiden's face - forcing her to let out an agonizing scream.

"AAAAAARGHH!"

Cinder's eyes widened in anticipation as she could feel the power of the Fall Maiden flowed into her. The maiden's body jerked and lashed out at the sheer pain inflicted on her, causing Mercury and Emerald had to tighten their hold to put the captive down. The process went on for couple of minutes as the maiden's scream kept echoing.

However, Cinder suddenly sensed a shift in the atmosphere around her. While maintaining her connection with the Fall Maiden, she took a careful look around. It seemed her other two disciples also noticed the anomaly in the air and began to look around as well.

The first sign they found was the gathering clouds in the air, and that alone was enough to put them on edge. Cinder turned her gaze at the Fall Maiden, and she was still under the effect of her glove. The transferring process had gone for few minutes, so it was unlikely for the maiden to have enough power to pull another one on them. Could it be another Seasonal Maiden was in the area?

If there was another Seasonal Maiden around and she were to interfere, things could get ugly. "Keep her down, I am almost finished." Cinder quickly ordered Mercury and Emerald, whom nodded and focused on the Fall Maiden in their grasp, while Cinder made herself be the look-out.

However, when lightning began to flash and thunder began to growl, things begun to feel wrong for Cinder. If she were to be another person, let alone another Maiden, who wanted to rescue the Fall Maiden, she would let herself known by now. The fact that nobody showed up while the bizarre phenomenon had reached such a stage, told Cinder that she had to wrap things up as soon as possible.

 _Just a little more…_

However, Cinder suddenly shot her gaze upwards when she, along with Mercury and Emerald, saw the air above them suddenly looked distorted, with lightning gathering and dancing around the distorted space. The distortion glowed, and when it flashed out sparks and formed a ball of plasma, the first thing that came from the distortion was a massive axe that fell down right in between Cinder and Fall Maiden, the blade prematurely severed the black substance that connected the two women.

"No!" Cinder yelled out as the glove and black insect on her hand dissolved into nothing. She then glared up at the space distortion - which seemed was about to blow up.

BOOM!

The three offenders had to leap away to avoid damage, while whatever came from that distortion forced the dust and debris to fly around, covering their vision. "Emerald, Mercury, secure the Fall Maiden!" the transferring process had yet to complete, Cinder was not yet the real Fall Maiden. She could not afford to lose her target, not when she was so close to succeed.

The two disciples took heed of the order and were about to act, when another figure suddenly jumped into the fray. It was a middle-aged man with greying black spiky hair, clad in a casual dress-suit with long tails, and wielding a great-sword.

Cinder immediately recognised the newcomer, who was standing protectively over the woman laid on the ground. "Ozpin's lap-dog…" she growled softly under her breath.

Mercury and Emerald quickly tried to blind-sided the newcomer, but the man simply spun his heels around and performed multiple slashes that almost struck both teens - whom quickly realised that the newcomer was clearly no push-over.

As the man glared over them, Emerald quickly used her Semblance - the ability that born from her very soul, to manipulate the interloper's perception. Truthfully speaking, her power was already drained enough during the fight with the Fall Maiden - Emerald could not put anything fancy inside the man's head. However, she at least could still make sure that the man would not recognise their faces.

Seeing the man's narrowed, unfocused red eyes, Cinder knew that Emerald was working her magic. However, for how long? The woman probably only had a minute at best to decide her next course of action.

On one hand, she had yet to complete her mission - the Fall Maiden was still alive, if barely, and she would only take even less than a minute to finish the job.

On the other hand, she could feel the raw power of Fall Maiden coursing through her, as a heart-shaped black tattoo appeared on her back - signifying her status as Pseudo Fall Maiden. Simply put, she had the majority of Maiden's power on her beck and call. In that sense, her mission was completed.

Besides, Mercury and Emerald were unlikely to have enough power and stamina to go for another bout, not against someone on this huntsman's calibre. While she could order them to buy her some time to finish the job, risking and losing her two subordinates so early would harm her future agenda in a long run.

She decided that withdrawing was her best option. She still had yet to know about the space distortion from earlier, but she could find out about it later.

Using her newfound power, Cinder's eyes glowed like flames and she conjured a fiery explosion beneath the huntsman's feet, prompting him to carry the unconscious Fall Maiden and jump out of the harm's way.

BOOM!

That moment of distraction was enough for Cinder, Mercury and Emerald to vanish and make their escapes. Now they could proceed to their next step.

oXo

Qrow Branwen was having a bad day - a graduate of prestigious Beacon Academy for Huntsmen, former member of team STRQ. He had been tasked by the headmaster of Beacon Academy himself to meet up with the Fall Maiden and guide her to Vale, where she would meet the headmaster to discuss a certain matter. Even the Fall Maiden herself went far enough to set another appointment with Qrow to smooth things over.

However, on the night prior appointment day, Qrow had the gall to drown himself in liquor and ended up waking up late on the next day with nasty hangover. To make things worse, his Misfortune just had to act up - he sighted a pack of grimm approaching the village where he was staying, where the fences and walls around the border were not nearly enough to hold them at bay. He was a huntsman, and he could not, in his good conscience, leaving the village to fend for itself. Thus, Qrow had to deal with the immediate threat, delaying his meeting with the Fall Maiden.

The grimm was not much of a challenge, Qrow was glad that it did not take too long to finish them. Still, time was of the essence - not only Fall Maiden, the other Maidens practically had giant target painted on their backs as soon as they became one. Who knew what sort of people that would wish ill towards them.

As if his Misfortune decided to spit him in the face, as Qrow was running as fast as he could through the woods towards the meeting venue, he suddenly saw tornado and storm clouds gathered… right at the location where he was supposed to meet up with the Fall Maiden. Something was happening.

" _...Shit!"_ Qrow sped up his running, and his heart sunk when he heard a woman's scream few minutes later. _"No, no, no, no, no!"_

To make things even more complicated, Qrow saw a lightning-strike, followed with another huge explosion that kicked the dust and debris to fly around - that was when he arrived at the location and made his entrance.

The first thing he recognised was the unconscious body of the Fall Maiden, then the woman in red who he assumed to be the perpetrator - judging by her get-up. The third thing he registered was the two crooks that were futilely trying to down him from behind, as he brandished his Harbringer and easily forced the two youngsters to back off.

However, when he was about to properly look at his enemy's face, he blinked as the woman in red's face became static in his eyes, preventing him to make out any discerning features of the woman. _"A work of a Semblance…? Just what I need."_ he grimly thought to himself.

Then, he suddenly felt the ground beneath him glowed in fiery colour and he quickly jumped away with Fall Maiden in tow, just in time when an explosion took place. When he recovered from the explosion, the assailants were nowhere to be seen.

Clicking his tongue at his failure, Qrow then looked down at the unconscious Maiden in his arms. The Aura that was supposed to protect her was gone, her face was badly scarred with black marks, and there was only a faint pulse on her. She was dying and required medical treatment as soon as possible.

However, Qrow's eyes caught the sight of something else and he froze on spot. It was a great axe that he would recognise anywhere. The colour, the metal the weapon was made out of, the design… there was only one such weapon and there was only one wielder.

When Qrow decided to close in to get a better look, he found something - someone else laid not far from the weapon, and his eyes widened. For a second, he thought that the alcohol and hangover were still messing with his head.

It was a body of a man lying face-down on the ground. His exposed, well-toned arms were covered in wounds, his clothes and armour were in tatters and had seen better days. While Qrow could not make out of the unconscious man's face, he could recognise that appearance anywhere.

Swallowing a lump, Qrow slowly closed the distance between him and the downed man, and carefully flipped his body over. A breath escaped him when he saw the familiar face - the face of a friend he thought had lost so long ago.

"No way…."

* * *

The last thing that Claude remember when he was facing the abominable grimm, was a flash of lightning, followed by images of his life. Feeling his body to be weightless inside what it seemed to be a void, Claude believed he was dead, or at least about to somehow.

He remembered the moment when he and Summer learned about their heritage, as well as the destiny that awaited them. For a while, he loathed the fate where peaceful and normal life was out of his reach forever.

Then, he remembered how his sister - Summer, was able to keep her happy demeanor and lived her life spectacularly, not bothered by her destiny whatsoever. It was actually thanks to her that he was able to live a good one in the end.

Then, he remembered the faces of his friends who he met along the way, his team - CBPR and team STRQ.

Roman was one of the biggest, if not _the_ biggest, assholes - he ever had the pleasure of knowing. But in the end, through thick and thin, Roman was an asshole who Claude was willing to trust his life to, and they both had been watching each other's backs for years.

Barty was, simply put, a historical nerd. There were too many times when Claude just wished the green-head to chill out and not talking anything about history and literature for once in his life. Then again, there were also too many times where Barty's intellect managed to pull the team out of tight situations, and Claude owed him big time.

Peter, a.k.a 'Pops' - was a bit lacking in height department, as well as strangely looking older than his peers despite his young age; not to mention he was a total stuck in the mud when they first met. And boy, it was a riot when he and Roman started on a wrong foot - the latter had the guts to call the former P.P., much to his chagrin. They gradually became closer and went along better after constant prodding from his other peers, and they finally learned that Pops was a closet pervert, much to his chagrin and everyone's amusement. In the end, Pops' attitude in respecting the rules was what that keeping the team in check.

Then, STRQ came into his life, the team where his sister was assigned to.

Qrow Branwen was probably one of the coolest guys Claude ever had the pleasure of knowing. Despite the quirks that came from his Semblance, Claude never regretted the time he spent with the guy - especially when booze, women or alcohol were involved. The man was also a terrific combatant, and during academy hours, Qrow and Claude had developed a sense of rivalry with each other.

Tai Yang Xiao-Long was… kind of cool guy, but in a different sense compared to Qrow. He was always the powerhouse and the happy goof-ball in the team that would always try to brighten the mood; and his reactions whenever Claude and Roman pulled pranks on him were never boring. If only Tai actually knew how to pull off some good puns or jokes, he would have been more popular with girls.

Then there was Raven Branwen. To be honest, Claude always thought that Raven was an opposite of Summer, even kind of a bitch sometimes. Even now, he could not fathom what Tai saw in her that made him infatuated to her for a while. Then again, Claude never met any woman who was as daring as her. To put it simply, through dozens of various awkward (even intense/hostile) moments and interactions shared between each other over their academy years, Claude finally learned about the hidden sides that Raven never showed to anyone else, and those sides were actually what made her so… damn attractive to him. Now, Claude believed that both he and Raven wished that they could be something much more than friends.

Finally, there was Summer Rose. Call him cheesy and all, but before everyone else, his little sister had always been his light in the dark - the sole reason why he could believe that Remnant, the world where they lived in, was not such a bad place and was worth fighting for. Her (over)optimistic attitude tended to make him worry for her, but every time, without fail, Summer always exceeded his expectations in one way or another. Honestly, Claude still believed about the heritage and the ensuing destiny for him and Summer, yet she always pulled him through it all. In fact, if it were not for Summer, Claude would not bother attending Beacon, or becoming a huntsman at all, which led him to be the person he was now.

Claude finally sighed as he reminisced the good ol' days. He wondered how everyone would react when they found his corpse. Would there even any remains of him to begin with? Claude finally felt stupid about himself - his teammates would be pissed beyond belief. Who was going to keep Roman in line? The guy was already a big enough of a problem child. Maybe Barty and Peter could manage, but things would not be the same.

As team STRQ… His junior team by one year. While Summer would definitely be heart-broken; once the rest of the team, especially Raven, got their hands on him, either one of them would probably kill him all over again.

Claude sighed once again, this time with some tears escaping his eyes, when he realized how much he would miss all of them.

However, not long after that, Claude suddenly felt his surroundings getting brighter, and he gradually regained the sense of his body, followed with subtle noises that gradually becoming louder by seconds.

That was when it dawned upon him; he was certainly not dying. He had been actually sleeping like a log, and he was about to wake up.

oXo

When Claude blinked his eyes open, the first thing his mind registered was, that he was lying on a bed inside some kind of infirmary. He slowly woke up into sitting position, turning his neck around to let some bones popping, before he turned to look at the window next to his bed. It was night time, and… strangely enough, Claude never recalled so much light and buildings in Vale, if he was actually in Vale at all. He stared down to find himself clad in hospital gown, and when he looked at his bed - the sheet, the blanket and the mattress looked… so _clean_ that it felt off to him.

He then looked around the room, and he saw that everything in his room - interior, furniture, etc., were looked so different. When his eyes landed on what he assumed as television, he blinked at how _thin_ the device looked.

When he looked around again, his eyes finally noticed that there was someone else sitting on a chair not far from his bed, as well as another person standing next to it. Claude's body instinctively tensed up, only to relax again immediately when he recognised the person on the said chair, while as for the next person - the woman… looked awfully familiar to him, but he was not sure of who it was.

The person was a middle-aged man with tousled silver hair and thin brown eyes, with black eyebrows; his skin had light complexion and his facial features were sharp. He was wearing shaded glass spectacles and a small, purple, cross-shaped pin on the cowl around his neck. His outfit was mainly consisted of an unzipped black suit over a buttoned vest and green shirt, complete with black trouser shoes and long dark-green pants. Both of his hands were holding a white mug with an insignia of Beacon Academy with a steaming drink inside.

The woman standing next to him, however, was in her middle-age and had very light-blonde hair tied back in a bun with a curl hanging down the right side of her face. Her eyes were bright green and she was wearing thin ovular glasses. She had dangling teal earrings that match the hanging pendant on her collar. Her body was clad in a white long-sleeved, pleated top that had a wide keyhole neckline and gauntlet cuffs that flared in pleats at the wrist. Her lower body was covered by a black high-waisted pencil skirt with bronze buttons and black-brown stockings. She was also wearing black boots with bronze heels, and a cape that was purple inside and black on the outside. The cut of the cape was stylized to end in flames and arrows, with a row of diamond-shaped bronze beads on the back.

The same woman was reading something on her handheld tablet before she put it away to look at him with stern, yet somewhat soft gaze.

"...Ozpin." Claude greeted his headmaster. Ever since he laid his eyes upon the man for the first time, he always thought that Ozpin was _very_ shady - it was the reason why Claude never bothered to call him with his proper honorifics. However, over the years he spent watching the headmaster working, Claude concluded that the man was worthy of trust as well as respect.

As for the woman next to Ozpin, Claude only offered a polite nod, which the woman returned with her own subtle nod and stoic expression. Seriously, Claude began to truly believe that he had seen this woman somewhere, but he could not remember when and where.

"...Claude Rose." Ozpin smiled lightly with a nod. "Welcome back to Beacon. It is good to see you again."

"So I'm back to Beacon, after all..." Claude nodded while regarding his room again with amusement in his eyes. "...I gotta say, you renovated the interior so quickly and nicely since the last time I was here..." he then sent questioning glance at the view beyond the window as well. "...Although since when did Vale have this much lights and buildings?"

Ozpin and the woman shared a glance - the latter's gaze had more concern than the former, before addressing Claude again. "Tell me, Mr. Rose…" Ozpin called. "...What date is it today?"

Claude turned his eyes back to the headmaster, he was about to reply, but he paused to put up a thoughtful expression. "Err… Not sure, to be honest. I mean, how long was I asleep again?" he asked with confused look.

Ozpin only breathed out softly before asking again. "Let me rephrase my question, then. What year is it now?"

Claude blinked at the change of tone in Ozpin's voice. He had no idea what was going on, but Claude chose to play along for the time being. "...20XX. What is this about?"

The woman next to Ozpin visibly tensed up. Claude narrowed his eyes slightly at the woman for a second before he turned it back at Ozpin, who took out something like a scroll…? The device was much thinner and smaller than the ones Claude recalled, with a see-through screen just suddenly popped out from two pieces of metal.

"Mr. Rose, please look at the screen and tell me what you think." Ozpin said while showing his scroll's home screen to the younger man.

Claude starred at the older man for few seconds. He had his own questions, but he chose to humour the headmaster one more time and looked carefully at the screen, which was kind of similar with the scroll he was familiar with.

"Well…. I say I'm impressed with the new look. The thing seems more sleek and easier to be carried around, although… " Claude then pointed at the date and time display. "...You probably want to reset the time settings. I mean, the year was way too far off by 20 years."

Both Ozpin and the woman closed their eyes and took a deep breath. Claude frowned at the sight - he did not like where the conversation was going. "...Okay, seriously. Ozpin, what's going on? Who is she, anyway? Why does she look so damn familiar?" Claude asked as he gestured at the woman.

"Mr. Rose…" Ozpin recomposed himself as he addressed his student. "...I first would like you to stay calm for the rest of our conversation. You may ask as many question as you want after we are done with our story."

"...Okay, and I think I'm already calm. So will you please just get out with it?" Claude then narrowed his eyes further, wanting for the man before him to no longer going in circles.

Ozpin nodded as he showed his scroll again. "Firstly, while your comments about the interior is appreciated, I want to let you know that it actually took some time for me to re-decorate the whole interior of my school, and Beacon Academy has undergone renovations for four times."

Claude blinked owlishly at the first information. The _whole_ school of the size of Beacon Academy had been renovated for _four_ times? Where was he when the renovation was happening?

"...Secondly, I assure you that my scroll is up to date and is not suffering any malfunction whatsoever. In other words, the date and time displayed in here is precisely the current date and time we are in at this moment."

The next words came from Ozpin made Claude furrowed his eyebrows. He wanted to retort, but he decided to keep to himself and let Ozpin finish with whatever he had for him. Not that Claude know that what he would learn later would change his life forever, to put it lightly.

"...Thirdly, you actually have met this lady over here, who is also my assistant for 10 years now." Ozpin gestured at the woman next to him. "...I believe you met her for the first time during the 30th Vytal Festival."

At this point, Claude's heart began to quicken as he ended up letting out a word. "...What?" he whispered as his eyes wandered at the woman. He met her? 30th Vytal Festival?

That was when it hit him - Claude swallowed a lump as things finally clicked in his mind. "...Glynda Goodwitch?"

"...Took you long enough, Claude." the woman - Glynda Goodwitch replied with soft breath as she folded her arms on her chest.

Claude was speechless, to say the least. The woman before him was clearly different than the one he last seen. "Gl- Glynda-... You… But you're…." Claude stuttered as he could not process what was in front of him. "...You're _old_."

Glynda's eyes twitched at the remark, while Ozpin had to take a sip from his mug to suppress a smirk forming on his face due to the mood in the room.

"Moving on." Ozpin spoke up again. "Speaking of Glynda, I believe there is one other person that you should meet. He's also the one who brought you back here in the first place."

As if on cue, the door of the room slid open - Claude noticed that the door was now a sliding door instead of the conventional one, revealing a man with graying black spiky hair.

Claude stared at the newcomer. Again - just like with Glynda, the man looked even more familiar to him. When Claude's jaw dropped slightly while staring at the man, the said man snorted while putting up a small smile. "... What's up, Zapper." he greeted casually.

Claude blinked at the greeting - again, it hit him. The damnable smile, that red eyes, that facial structure, and more importantly - the nickname he just used to greet him; there was only one person he knew who called him 'Zapper'.

"...Qrow?"

"It's good to see you again, Claude. We have a _lot_ of catching up to do." Qrow's smile dimmed as he spoke.

Claude began to sweat, his hands were clutching his bed sheet tightly until his knuckles went white. Things started to fall in place - the foreign sight of Vale outside of Beacon, the drastic change of his surrounding, and most importantly: the appearance of Glynda and Qrow, the people he knew. There was one possible explanation that came to mind, but Claude could not believe it; he refused to believe it. He even waited for a moment while biting his lower lip, hoping everything was just one nasty dream; or for everything was only one nasty prank being pulled on him.

As Claude's mind was in turmoil, the other three occupants of the room suddenly noticed the light inside the room suddenly began to flicker, even the screen on Ozpin's, Qrow's and Glynda's scrolls began to show some statics. Qrow, who happened to be nearest to the door, also noted that the light outside the room - possibly the whole building, was flickering as well.

Glynda gave Ozpin a look, and the latter quickly turned to address his ward. "Claude, please, I told you to stay calm." he said while not leaving his seat.

Claude closed his eyes tightly and took several deep breaths to compose himself. Soon all electricals inside the building returned to normal, much to everyone's relief.

Few minutes had passed - Ozpin, Glynda and Qrow did not say anything, allowing Claude to _calmly_ digest everything that was told to him.

"Ozpin…" Claude finally spoke with another deep breath, as he turned his gaze to him. "...How long have I been sleeping?"

The expression of the other three in the room dampened - things were a lot complicated than that. "Mr. Rose, I'm afraid the question is not how long you've been sleeping…" Ozpin replied, causing Claude's eyes to gradually widen again. "...It's how long you have been missing."

As the conversation unfolded, unknown to everyone else, Glynda's tablet was still displaying the last page that she read when Claude woke up.

 _Beacon Academy's Team Profile_

 _Team CBPR (Copper):_

 _Claude Rose (Leader), Bartholomew Oobleck, Peter Port, Roman Torchwick._

* * *

… _Perhaps victory lies within simpler things that you have long forgotten - things that require a smaller, more honest soul._

 _Then again, in the event where that soul is in a great danger and brink of despair, there is also another soul that vows to protect that one simple soul._

* * *

 **I've been planning this project for some time, and I actually pulled it off! For those who are following my One-Punch DxD, rest assured that the next chapter is on the way. For now, please let me know what you think of this story. Ahsoei, over and out.**


	2. Catching up (I)

**RWBY: The Redeemer**

* * *

 **'Sup, folks. Another update of RWBY: The Redeemer. The reason of this fast update is because I actually have been planning this project for some time now. I've read a bunch of RWBY fics - single and crossover alike and I became fascinated with the lore. Without further ado, enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Catching up (I)**

Claude was sitting on a bench in Beacon Academy's courtyard, the light of the shattered moon providing enough light for him to perceive his surroundings. He was now wearing his old uniform of Beacon Academy, his previous attire was in the laundry. He had taken shower as well - his hair that was usually swept back was left unkempt and damp, covering his forehead and almost covering his silver eyes.

He breathed out a heavy sigh as he turned his face upwards - his eyes gazed at the newly decorated yard, then at the moon for couple of seconds before he closed them. He pursed his lips as his expression turned sour - it had only been barely two hours since he woke up, yet he already felt that his brain was going to burst.

20 years - Claude thought it was only a day at most, yet from everyone's perspective, Claude had been _missing_ for _20 bloody years_. Nobody, even himself, had any idea of how he popped out again and was found by Qrow. The huntsman himself said that Claude just suddenly appeared from out of nowhere, with wounds covering his body, but his appearance was exactly the same one when everyone saw him last time - his weapon included.

For the past couple of hours - Ozpin, Glynda and (mostly) Qrow were filling him what he had missed during his apparent disappearance. Some points of the story made him happy, some made him sad, and some…. He did not know how to react on.

His team, CBPR was in shambles for some time with their leader gone. Barty and Peter were barely holding themselves together between their duties, studies, as well as searching for their leader's whereabouts. At the very least, the two gradually got better as the time went by, and they were currently working as huntsmen and teachers at Beacon Academy.

Roman actually believed that Claude was killed in action, and he grew bitter and distance to everyone until he suddenly went missing before graduation. Not long after that, there were rumours saying that Roman had been involved in the criminal world - stealing and robbing various people and establishments on the whole continent, if not the whole World of Remnant; his face was practically over the news.

Interestingly enough - much to Claude's relief, there was no record of life casualties during Roman's unhealthy actions - at least for the time being. On related note, Ozpin actually offered to call Barty and Peter, but the Claude found himself refusing the offer. He was not ready to meet them; not to mention that it was middle of the night, his two old friends were probably sleeping.

Claude ran his hand over his face before he slumped on his seat with another sigh. His mind was currently drifting to his little sister - Summer, and the rest of team STRQ.

Speak of the devil, Claude caught Qrow approaching from the corner of his eyes. The older-looking man was walking with two glasses and an expensive-looking bottle of liquor - which Claude guessed to be whisky, but he did not recognise the brand.

Claude honestly preferred to be alone for a little longer, but perhaps some good drinks and a good company could help him feel better. Straightening his posture, he gave a small smile to address his old friend.

oXo

If Qrow was to be honest, Claude actually took the entire news a lot better than he expected. However, his old friend's lack of reaction actually what worried everyone, including him. He knew Claude was strong, tough… but when Claude learned about what happened to his little sister, he only asked to be left alone. Without showing any sign of outburst, Qrow could not help but want to do something.

With the hope that the old Claude he knew was still there, Qrow prepared the drink that he and Claude used to share back in the day and went out to find him. For once, his misfortune did not act up as he found Claude in the courtyard soon enough. The younger-looking man noticed his arrival and gave him a small smile in greeting. "...Qrow."

"Hey." Qrow decided to push through and took a seat next to him, settling the bottle and the two glasses between them. He opened up the bottle and poured the liquid into the glasses. As soon as he put down the bottle again, Qrow took the glass first, before Claude followed suit few seconds later; and the two had a toast.

Qrow let out a small breath - at least Claude was still responsive to his unspoken offer, as he downed the whole glass in one go and let out a breath. Qrow also took a swig before he exhaled as well. "...I'm gonna ask you a dumb question." Qrow then began, turning his gaze at Claude. "How are you holding up?"

"...Terrible." Claude simply said as he took upon himself to pour his own glass. "...And I forgot about one thing."

"...What thing?" Qrow blinked and turned to Claude.

"Why, and how does Ozpin still look pretty much the same, while you and Goodwitch became old man and woman?"

Qrow stared at Claude for a second before he snorted. Perhaps Claude was really stronger than he thought, if he could make a remark like that. "That's just his thing. From what I know, Ozpin was the founder of Beacon Academy itself, and it was decades ago."

"...And that's why everyone, even Summer, found him _shady as hell_ during the initiation." Claude commented again as he took a small sip from his drink.

The two fell into somewhat companionable silence as Qrow noticed the look in Claude's eyes. "...Are you gonna be okay?"

"Dunno, eventually, I think…" Claude let out a breath for the upteempth time. "...It's gonna take a while." he said as he stared to his drink.

Qrow nodded in understanding and the silence resumed.

"It was supposed to be a simple recon mission…" Claude spoke up again, receiving a glance from Qrow. "...Then everything went to shit when those grimm showed up."

"Yeah… that happened." melancholy appeared in Qrow's eyes as his mind drifted back to _that_ day. "Peter told me what happened… Mind telling me what exactly you faced back there?"

"That… is actually something that I still cannot comprehend until now." Claude replied with another swig of whiskey.

"Okay… Whatever it was, did you kill it?" Qrow asked again.

"I don't know...? Maybe?" Claude shrugged. "...Did you guys really not see me anywhere when things blew over?"

"Well…. The grimm horde was still there, but their amount was nothing the army couldn't handle. You, on the other hand, just vanished without a trace…. Never seen Summer crying like that when she learned of what happened..." Qrow looked down, unpleasant of memory resurfacing - Summer was on her knees, sobbing into her brother's cloak, the only remains of him; before he turned back to Claude. "...Seriously, what did you do?"

"I told you, I don't know!" Claude replied with a slight edge in his tone. "...All I had in mind that day… Was if I went down, who knew what's gonna happen to you, to everyone! Summer and Peter were practically running behind me!" Claude then sighed to regain his composure. "...Then, after Awakening, I only remembered that I fought, fought, and fought even more, making sure that no grimm went past me." he finished by putting his glass away, and buried his face into his hands.

Qrow's gaze softened at the sight of his old friend. He then turned his gaze to the space before him. "...You heard about the rest of my teammates, didn't ya?"

"Yeah, you and Oz told me that." Claude sighed while pulling his face from his hands said with a faint smile. "Never thought Tai had it in him… That lucky sonnova bitch." slight mirthless chuckle escaped his lips.

"You're… fine with it?" Qrow quirked his eyebrow. "I mean, you and Raven, and Summer..." he found himself grimacing when he remembered Summer.

Summer Rose continued to work as huntress and housewife for Tai and her daughter alternately. One day, she went on a mission, and never came back. At first everyone believed that Summer was just going MIA, like her brother. However, a painful truth came upon them, when the search team discovered a huge trail of blood - enough to kill one person at the location where Summer was last seen.

The DNA test that followed soon after only confirmed that Summer was most likely killed in action, and the rest of her remains were never found. Her grave in Patch - her hometown was just a tombstone, with no corpse buried beneath.

"Qrow." Claude interrupted. "Summer is a big girl… Raven and I were barely steady. You know that."

"Claude…" Qrow noticed the sad look in Claude's eyes, as the latter closed them.

"You know the fate that awaits people with our lineage. Summer could have just fully retired and lived a peaceful life, yet she still chose to see it through. She made her choice, and I…" Claude paused before he closed his eyes with another sigh yet again. "...A man who just disappeared for 20 years has no right to meddle what they want to do with their lives."

"Oh, come on, don't beat yourself over that. What happened back there was out of your control!" Qrow tried to say in comforting manner.

"I wonder…" Claude trailed off, his mind began to wander around 'what ifs'. What would have happened if he were to make it back? How things would have end up? Perhaps he could have accompanied Summer on her missions, leading his team as real huntsmen after graduation, and Raven….

Claude banished the thought as he decided to change the topic. "You know what, why don't you tell me more about…. You becoming Professor Branwen?" he said with teasing smirk.

Qrow blinked at the sudden shift of topic, but chose to play along in favour of Claude. "Well... It's another stuff of the past. I used to teach at Signal back in Patch, along with Tai. But… one day Ozpin suddenly told me about… you know; the Queen, Raven, and other things that you're told earlier. I chose to leave Signal to help Oz out, teaching kids was never my calling, anyway." Qrow ended with a dry laugh.

"I see…" Claude looked down again as the word 'Queen', as well as the name of the other Branwen were brought up - the supposedly light-hearted topic was instantly killed. "Then, Qrow… Just tell me one more thing." Claude glanced at the man, who also looked back. "...Raven and Summer…. Were they happy?"

Qrow's eyes widened ever so slightly before he sent his glance to a distance. "I can't say about Raven - she didn't stick around for long, but for Summer, I'd say she was…" he replied truthfully.. "...They both had a daughter respectively when they married Tai - Yang and Ruby. You should meet them, they're great kids. You're gonna love them."

That got Claude into thinking. " _Raven's and Summer's child, huh...?"_ a ghost of a _genuine_ smile appeared on his lips. "...That doesn't sound bad." Claude said as he stood up, finishing the rest of his drink. "Maybe I'm gonna pay visit to Patch later. For now, I want to hit the hay. Thanks for the drink, Qrow." he smiled as he put the glass down.

"...Goodnight." Qrow nodded while rising his glass. When Claude was only few steps away, Qrow suddenly called out again. "You know…" when Claude paused on his trek, Qrow carried on without looking at him. "...Until the end, Summer always believed that you're still alive somewhere."

Claude turned his head ever so slightly at Qrow's words. His chest felt tight, and Claude pursed his slightly trembling lips as his hands balled into fists.

"...And she's right. You _are_ alive, and you came back, although not in the way anyone expecting." Qrow smiled genuinely at Claude's back. "...So I'm gonna say this again - welcome back, Zapper."

"...Thanks." Claude merely replied as he finally walked away. Qrow simply closed his eyes and stayed behind, enjoying the rest of his drink under the moonlight.

Claude walked back to his room as soon as he could, and once he was inside, he pressed his back against the door and shut it close. He closed his eyes, a single tear escaped his left and he took a deep breath to compose himself. He could not bring himself to break down, not yet - especially if Ozpin's story about the danger that was looming from over the horizon was true.

He opened his eyes and saw his weapon lying on the bed - Shatter Storm, a set of hybrid-conductive metal shield and sword that combines into an axe, his long-time partner. He slapped both hands on his cheeks as he found a good way to distract himself.

The first thing he wanted to do after running a quick inspection on his partner was just to sleep. He needed to be in tip-top shape both physically and mentally. Who knew what a 20 year-old future had in store for him when the day came.

* * *

Bartholomew Oobleck had always been an early riser. He woke up when the morning sun was barely seen from the horizon. He yawned, stretched his sleepy body and put on his glasses - signifying his age had caught up with his body, before he turned to check on his scroll for any updates.

He blinked when he found a message from the Headmaster himself. The message only said to come to his office as soon as he could, and his co-worker and friend - Peter Port had been notified as well. Oobleck pursed his lips in a small scowl at the message, before he began his morning rituals - which include a nice, hot cup of coffee.

The message did not contain any details, which could only mean that whatever Ozpin wanted to discuss might be urgent, and private. Despite the Headmaster's shady background, as well as his unconventional way of dealing things, he was the one who had helped them through their academy years when they lost a friend and team-leader, when their team was in shambles; and Ozpin would always come up with a decision that would be best for everyone. His faith was also shared with Port and Glynda as well.

Oobleck believed that he was living a fairly good life with balanced ups and downs. Years of further study after graduating from Beacon Academy allowed him to gain the PhD, thus Bartholomew Oobleck was now _Dr._ Bartholomew Oobleck.

People with Oobleck's reputation usually chose to build their own workshops, or work for government, but Oobleck chose to work as a history teacher at Beacon Academy. The place had most of his life memories - good and bad, and the pay was not bad either.

However, due to social norms about profession, many students, especially the first and second years, ended up addressing him as 'professor' instead of his actual title - an act that Oobleck never tired to rectify. He cared for all of his students, but a proper manner in addressing someone was never a bad thing.

On his way from his home in the town to the academy, Oobleck ran to a familiar face when he took a bullhead - a common VTOL aircraft that transported him to the academy grounds. "Good morning, Peter."

Peter Port - teacher of grimm studies at Beacon Academy, turned and smiled widely at Oobleck. "Good morning to you too, Barty." he said with energetic manner. Peter showed a significant change in his appearance due to old age - his well-toned torso was replaced with round fat, his black hair had become grey and he had grown a thick, tidy mustache over his lips. But despite the outside appearance, Oobleck was glad that Peter never changed from the inside, hopefully period.

As their bullhead was flying towards their destination, Oobleck struck a conversation. "I honestly did not expect to see you this early, Peter. What brought this on?"

"It's just one of those moments when you find yourself wake up so early, and you don't bother to go back to bed because it was nearly the time you wake up usually." Peter replied in one full sentence.

"...Fair enough." Oobleck nodded in acceptance. "So you received a message from Professor Ozpin this morning?"

"Indeed, I did." Peter replied. "I wonder what he wants to tell us in such manner. Headmaster Ozpin tends to make surprises."

A light sigh escaped Oobleck's lips at Peter's remarks. "...Let's just hope that this one surprise is not a bad one."

The rest of the trip was spent with casual talks between two teachers. The headmaster's office was located at the top of the Beacon Tower. Oobleck and Port travelled the elevator up and when they arrived, Ozpin and Glynda were already waiting for them, with two cups of coffee prepared. "Good morning, Barty, Peter." Ozpin gave a light greeting with a cordial smile.

"Good morning, headmaster." Oobleck and Port greeted back while the latter nod to the woman in the room. "…Glynda."

The said woman nodded curtly with a small smile. "Have a seat, you two." Ozpin gestured the two teachers, who complied and took the offer. Barty did not hesitate to reach the steaming mug in front of him and took a sip.

"Ah… Good as always." Oobleck revelled in the taste while Ozpin smiled in light amusement. Peter also followed suit; it was part of their morning rituals.

Few minutes later, Barty and Peter put down his mug and he put on his huntsman persona. "Is there something you'd like to discuss with us, Headmaster?" the latter asked politely.

"Yes, there is." Ozpin nodded while he also put on his serious persona, with Glynda took to stand by his side. "...Around yesterday, Qrow Branwen found that Amber, the current Fall Maiden, was attacked by unknown assailants. She fell into coma and a significant portion of her power had been stolen." On cue, a holographic screen appeared next to the table, showing the relevant pictures.

Oobleck and Port tensed up at the news as they observed the screen. The former rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "The Fall Maiden…? So the story is true, then." He asked without doubting Ozpin's story. "...I assume she is currently under your care?"

"She is sleeping in a location that I cannot disclose to you yet. The medical team that I assigned to treat her had done what they could, but Amber did not show any sign of recovering, and her condition still deteriorates as we speak. I have sent General Ironwood a message last night. Atlas should possess sufficient technology to stabilize Amber's condition." Ozpin elaborated further.

Peter and Barty reached their mugs to take another sip of the coffee, as they spent few minutes to digest the information given to them. "With all due respect, headmaster…" Peter broke the silence as he put down his mug. "While I and Barty appreciate the trust you put in us with this story… I believe there is something else which actually concerns us."

Looking at both Peter and Barty for a second, Ozpin only closed his eyes with his smile returned on his face. "Indeed, there is something else. As sharp as ever, Professor Port." Ozpin said with a nod, causing Peter to smile proudly. "As a matter of fact, at the same time when Qrow found the Fall Maiden… He also found someone else - someone of great interest who, I believe both of you would very like to meet."

Peter and Barty blinked at the headmaster before they glanced at each other. As if on cue, the elevator behind them rang, signifying another arrival. The door opened and a person stepped out. When Barty and Oobleck turned around to see the newcomer, their eyes widened to the size of plates.

Barty accidentally dropped his mug to the floor, spilling the hot content. However, nobody in the room bothered to speak as the two teachers blinked their eyes several times, not believing of what they saw.

A sword and shield that was strapped on his back; a leather pants with matching boots, shin and knee-guards; a sleeveless, plated-armour that covered his torso, well-toned arms, and lastly; black hair with red accent swept back, revealing a face with fair skin and a pair of silver eyes.

"...'Sup, boys." Claude greeted his two old teammates with easy-going smile.

"...Claude?" Oobleck breathed out, he even took off his glasses, rubbed his eyes, even cleaned the lenses to make sure that he was not seeing things. "...Peter, are you seeing this?" he asked his friend to clarify.

"...I think there's something in my breakfast this morning… Or my coffee earlier." Peter's slit-eyes were now wide open, looking at Claude up and down.

Ozpin and Glynda were watching the team reunion in small amusement, while Claude snorted. "Come on, guys. It _is_ me." he opened his arms for a second before settling on his waist.

Oobleck seemed like about to pass out. "My word..." he said with laboured breath. "...It's… It's really you…." he slowly reached out his hand onto Claude's side of the head, and to his shoulder. "...How?" his eyes began to water, his mind trying to comprehend his leader's appearance.

"No clue, but we can think about that later." Claude clasped Oobleck's hand gently with his own and squeezed it softly, as his eyes were measuring his old friend. "...You've grown taller, Barty." then he turned to Peter, who looked as if he was looking at a ghost. "...And you've become a real pops…." he finished with a knowing grin. "...P.P."

Peter was taken aback as he took several deep breaths at his accursed nickname. "...Claude, sir." he robotically nodded as he walked closer. He stopped once he was within arm-reach, and Barty could only watch what kind of exchange both Claude and Peter would have.

After all, when Claude disappeared, Peter was the one who worked the hardest, along with Summer, to find out his leader's whereabouts. Even recently, Barty still caught Peter researching missing person cases.

Few seconds of silence with Claude and Oobleck noticing that Peter's lips under the mustache were trembling, and his eyes were misty. "...Permission to punch you in the face… For your prolonged absence... sir."

Everyone blinked at the first line that Peter said, with Claude and Barty glanced at each other. Soon after, Claude snorted lightly as he gave a small smile. "...Give me your worst, Peter."

"...Thank you, Claude."

BAM!

Claude's body was launched all the way until it hit the elevator door, leaving a noticeable dent on the metal. The young man groaned as he massaged his jaw, before he laughed shortly. "...Glad that you still have it in ya, pops." Claude then looked up to see Peter was extending his hand to him, his face was now stained with tears flowing from his eyes.

"...Welcome back, old friend." Peter sniffed, smiling as Claude took his hand and stood up.

"It's good to be back…" Claude, Barty and Peter then gathered in a group hug, with the latter two sobbing.

Ozpin and Glynda were silent during the entire exchange, watching the team reunion as long as it needed - this was their time now.

It took around five minutes until the three old friends broke off the hug. Claude then walked forward through Barty and Peter to address the other two in the room. "...Ozpin, Glynda." Claude nodded at the headmaster and his secretary, who also nodded in return.

"Good morning, Mr. Rose. I take that you have made your decision?" Ozpin asked, while his expression showed as if he already knew the answer.

Claude closed his eyes, took a deep breath and he faced Ozpin again with looks that filled with conviction. "...I'll take your offer."

Ozpin's smile widened as he nodded pleasantly, Glynda also seemed to show a small smile while closing her eyes in content.

"So… Can I take Peter and Barty with me? We have a lot of catching up to do." Claude asked as he smiled at his two old teammates.

"We have plenty of time, Claude. Enjoy your reunion." Ozpin nodded again in approval.

Claude smiled in thanks as he turned around towards the elevator. "...Let's go, guys." Barty and Peter nodded one more time at Ozpin before they followed their leader.

However, when they pushed the elevator button, the door tried to open, but it was jammed due to the dent from Peter's small bout on Claude. "...Whoops." Peter said with small chuckle.

Claude only gave a dry smile at the older man, before he took a deep breath and placed his hands on the dented metal. Small sparks of electricity appeared for a split second before the metal gave a slight creaking sound and the metal door became flat, although not completely. At least it was enough for the elevator to open properly.

"I… apologize for the damage, Professor Ozpin." Peter turned wryly at the headmaster, who only chuckled in amusement.

"I understand, Peter. Don't worry about it. This your day, after all." Next to Ozpin, Glynda only sighed; but she did not say anything as she only lightly glared at the sheepish-looking Port.

"You heard the man, pops. Come on." Claude called out from inside the box with Barty in tow. Peter gave one last nod to the headmaster before the three of team CBPR finally left with the elevator.

Once they were alone, Glynda glanced at the still-smiling Ozpin. "You looked more pleased than usual, headmaster." she remarked.

"How can I not?" Ozpin replied. "If we play our cards right. Claude Rose's re-appearance can be our key advantage against the Queen." he smiled as he took another sip of his morning coffee.

oXo

"Claude, what was that about with the headmaster earlier, if I may ask?" Barty asked as the three were on the way down inside the elevator.

"Simply put - once the school year begins, we're going to see each other a lot…. As co-workers." Claude replied with a knowing look.

Barty and Peter visibly smiled at the thought. "So… you are given a teaching position? What subject is it?" Peter asked this time.

"Well... Not really a teacher, since I technically never graduated in the first place." Claude shrugged. "...But more like a teacher in training. Ozpin is gonna come up with something about me being a recent graduate and undergoing an internship… I guess you can say that I will act as your assistant for about a year, give or take."

Barty and Peter hummed for a second, before they sported thoughtful expressions. "That sounds… kind of amusing, for some reasons." the latter mused.

"I know, right?" Claude snorted. "Me, a teacher? Can you guys imagine that? Damn, Roman won't live it down if he finds out..." he said while shaking his head wilfully.

When the name of their final member was mentioned, Barty and Peter's mood drastically dampened. "...Claude, Roman is…" the former trailed off.

"Yes, I know." Claude interrupted - his expression became slightly sombre. At the same time, the elevator finally reached the ground floor and the three stepped out. "...That's why, I need your help in finding him. Can I count on you guys?" he looked up at the two teachers, whom replied immediately.

"Absolutely." Barty said as he fixed his glasses.

"Just give me the order, sir." Peter nodded while placing his fist over his chest.

"Thank you… Really, both of you." Claude smiled, before he turned to Peter. "...And pops, you are older than me now, and a teacher to boot. You can drop that… formal military shtick of yours. No need to call me 'sir' anymore."

"Nonsense." Peter stood his ground. "...Professor Ozpin may be my employer, but I've pledged my loyalty to you first and foremost. Considering you are still standing before me, my oath still applies."

Claude turned to look at Barty, who only shrugged with knowing smile. His lips grew into a smile as he sighed once again, before he gave Peter a pat on the shoulder. "...Suit yourself, but my point stands."

Peter only smiled at the gesture, and the group resumed their trek. "By the way, Barty… You seem to accept the story about Fall Maiden easily enough back there…. I was kind of expecting a bit of skepticism from you."

"While my job as history teacher and PhD title demands me to focus over facts, I still believe that legends, myths and fairy tales are part of foundations of history as a whole." Barty spoke with fast paced. "...And besides, Professor Ozpin is not the type who would come up with a lie like that."

"...During my time of working as a teacher under Ozpin, the headmaster never once led me astray with his decisions. No matter how outlandish his story may sounds, at the very least, I can give him benefit of doubt." Peter also gave his two cents. "...Besides, with what you and me saw on that day… I don't think anything is impossible anymore." his expression grew darker at the memory.

Claude mirrored Peter's expression for a second before he blinked. "I... take that's the reason why you decide to teach in the grimm studies here?"

Peter only shrugged knowingly, and that was enough answer for Claude to understand. "...And you trust Ozpin that much? Pops, you often doubted my leadership during our days in academy. I'm hurt, man. I really am." he then said with mock tone, his hand was placed on his heart.

Peter only chuckled in return. "Rather than doubt, I'd say I was showing… concern as a friend. In the end, things still worked out, didn't they?" he finished while hiding a cheeky smile behind his mustache.

Claude only scoffed in return.

Barty also chuckled in amusement before he cleared his throat. "...Claude, I believe we are getting side-tracked long enough."

Claude blinked and nodded as he resumed his trek, Barty and Peter followed behind him. "...Right. Our first stop will be the library. Barty, do you think we can get privacy there?"

"I do. The academy is still on holidays, there are hardly any students, and the staff in charge has yet to finish her day off. For all I know, Ozpin, Glynda and the three of us are the only ones at Academy…." Barty then paused for a second. "...Come to think of it, where's Qrow? I expected to see him earlier, considering he's the one who found you and all."

"He's nowhere to be found when I woke up this morning." Claude shrugged. "...He's probably already gone out of academy - probably getting smashed in some local dumpster or something."

Barty and Peter only blinked for a second at the thought, before they nodded in acceptance as Claude spoke again. "Moving on, our current objective is to learn about Roman's whereabouts. I take there are newspapers or something like those in the library?"

"Yes, the library doesn't only contain lesson books, but also contain records of the past happenings. I assure you, we can find almost all sort of information we need." Barty confirmed with the same pace from earlier.

Claude quirked an eyebrow. "You know, Barty, have you always been talking this fast?"

"When you have to cover mountainous amount of history materials for dozens of students every day, you will have to learn to use your limited time effectively and efficiently." Barty simply replied.

"Huh… Okay." Claude nodded and glanced at Peter, who only winked knowingly.

Peter then turned his gaze at the weapon on Claude's back. "Shatter Storm…. It is good that your partner is still in good shape." he said in recognition.

"Yes, it is." Claude conceded. "...I just ran a maintenance last night, but would you like to have a quick look? A second opinion won't hurt in keeping Shatter Storm in prime condition." he asked with a knowing smile.

Peter's face brightened at the offer. "...It would be my genuine pleasure."

"Right, back to business." Claude nodded as the three were close to the library. "...I asked about privacy earlier because I'm gonna brief you about what Ozpin had told me, about the Maiden and some other stuff. The only ones who know so far are the headmasters, Glynda, and the Branwens. I can't tell you the entire details yet, and what I will tell you will have to stay between us three. No telling the other staffs, and absolutely no telling to the students unless I permit you to do so. Am I clear?" he said with lower, yet serious tone.

"Crystal."

"Loud and clear."

"Also…. " When they entered the library building and arrived at the set of tables filled with computer. Claude also forgot one more thing. "…I need someone to give me a crash course of how to use this computer… and also my newly issued scroll. I'm not familiar yet with the new features."

Peter and Barty only stared at their leader for few seconds, before they chuckled in amusement. _It's good that some things did not change_.

oXo

"...So you guys never heard anything about Rome ever since? Or maybe Raven in that regard?" Claude asked as he browsed through the internet from his computer. Fortunately for him, it was not too difficult to adapt with the new computer and scroll – new features aside, their entire mechanisms were not too different than the ones he used to work with.

The three were doing their research in the library; Claude was facing a computer screen - acclimating with a new technology with some reference books and papers next to him. Barty was going through newspapers and other records for the past 20 years, while Peter opted to examine the nook and cranny of Claude's Shatter Storm.

"Unfortunately, no." Peter looked up from the weapon. "...For some reason, Raven suddenly left Patch, not long after her first daughter was born. As for Roman… He is constantly on the move, being chased with the authorities of not just Vale, but the other Kingdoms as well."

Claude hummed as he browsed through Roman's past exploits. His heist primarily targeted big-shots and people from upper-class society, but as far as he searched through the net, the most common name that popped out in the news was a company known as SDC - Schnee Dust Company. Founded almost hundred years ago, the company had been famous as the world's biggest supplier of Dust - the primary source of energy in Remnant.

However, Claude furrowed his eyebrows when he saw a picture of an elderly-looking man on a newspaper. "Say… Who's this new guy in SDC? I… feel like I've seen him somewhere before."

Barty peeked over at the screen. "Oh, that would be Jacques Schnee, the new CEO of the company. I believe we've met him with Mr. Nicholas Schnee during that one ball-room party in our second year."

"...Oh, _that_ guy." Claude's eyes widened at the newfound memory. "So he's a Schnee now? Wasn't he the old man Schnee's apprentice when we last saw him?"

"Around half a month after your disappearance, Jacques had married Mr. Nicholas' daughter, adopted the new surname, and has been appointed as the new leader of the company." Barty fixed his glasses. "...And if you remember the White Fang… Things around the Faunus has gotten worsened ever since Jacques took the leadership of SDC." The history teacher said with bitter tone.

Claude narrowed his eyes at the name - the name that also appeared in the internet as he browsed about Roman's crimes; _The White Fang_.

It was another thing that had changed drastically when he woke up in this new world. The group that was used to be a peaceful organisation striving for equality between Faunus - people with animal traits, and humans; had turned into something more similar to a terrorist group, resorting to violence for those who refused to see things their way.

The news about SDC itself had taken a darker turn under Jacques management, as topics about the company's shady dealings had been warm all over media; especially the controversy about abusing Faunus labours working for SDC.

Claude sighed as he leaned back on his chair, running his hand on his face - all the way through his hair. "...We are not making much progress here." his words receiving a look from both Barty and Peter. "We need some…. Back-door sources."

Barty and Peter then glanced at each other, silently contemplating for their next words. A moment later, the former spoke up. "Sir, may I suggest you to go to Xiong for information?"

Claude's turned to Peter with raised eyebrows. "Xiong… Hei Xiong? That mafia in Mistral?"

"Oh, no, no." Peter cleared his throat. "I am referring to his son, Junior, do you remember? Apparently he moved into Vale eight years ago, and has been working as information broker for the underworld under the guise of a nightclub at Vale's commercial district."

"Oh… Junior, huh…? Okay, that's a start, I guess." Claude shrugged. "...Do you know where this club is?"

"I'm sending you the address now." Peter was already typing on his scroll. Claude heard his own scroll ringing, and nodded when he saw a message from Peter on the screen.

Claude then turned on his seat to look at the clock on the wall. They began working in the morning, and it was already noon. He stretched his body with a breath to relax before he stood up. "...Well, I guess we've done enough for now. Who's up for a bite?"

Barty and Peter also relaxed on their seats. "...Do you remember the joint that serves Mistralian and Atlesian cuisines altogether?" the former asked with his lips grew to a grin.

Peter also seemed to grow a smile, knowing where Barty was leading on. Claude stared at the green-hair for few seconds, before he blinked and his eyes slowly widening. "Are you saying…?"

Barty quickly replied with a nod. "Precisely. The business is still running even after 20 years, and they now have added Vacuoan cuisine in their menu!"

This time, it was Claude's face that broke into a grin. "Then what the hell are you guys waiting for? Let's go! Goddamn, I can eat a horse now!" He then immediately stood up, picked up his Shatter Storm and strode to the front door, followed by giggling and laughing teachers behind.

oXo

At Vale downtown - while the three of team CBPR were planning to have lunch, Claude actually wanted to make a stop at clothes and armoury shop. His get-up was kind of decent enough, but it also looked out of place that it drew too much attention for comfort.

As they were currently having lunch, Claude was now sitting at the restaurant table while sporting a red-velvet leather coat that fit into his frame, with the hem reaching his hips. Beneath the sleeves of the coat, Claude's hands and forearms were covered with leather vambraces and fingerless gloves. Shatter Storm was rested behind his chair, the owner made sure that the weapon would not take too much space of the establishment.

"Whew…. Still delicious as I remember." Claude just finished what it seemed to be his third plate of lunch. He put his utensils down and let out a loud burp - causing the other patrons, Barty and Peter to flinch, while the two were having significantly less portion than their leader.

"It's been too long since the last time I saw you showing such a slovenly display, sir." Peter remarked.

"D'aww, you know you like it, pops." Claude countered.

Barty cleared his throat to gain his two teammates' attention. "Now that our bellies are filled, anywhere else in town that you would like to visit, Claude?"

Claude closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He looked up to see it was way past noon. "...I'm thinking of visiting home before dark."

Barty and Peter's mood visibly grew somber when they noticed the melancholy that began to grow in Claude's eyes. The two exchanged glances before Peter offered. "Then, we shall go with you there."

"No, you guys can go ahead back to Beacon… Or wherever else you have in mind." Claude refused before his eyes met with the concerned looks of his two friends. "Thanks, but...I'd like to go alone for this one." Claude finished with reassuring smile.

Barty and Peter stared at their leader for few seconds before they sighed and nodded in understanding. "Very well, then. We will return to the academy to continue our research for a bit longer. We will update you when we learn something more." the former said before both teachers stood up from their seats.

"Thanks, Barty." Claude nodded - Peter and Barty walked past him with the former placing his hand on his shoulder.

"Be careful on your way, sir."

"Seriously, will you just drop the 'sir'? Coming from you makes me feel old." Claude joked, which Peter returned with a hearty laugh before the teachers finally walked away towards the cashier, leaving Claude alone at the table.

Few minutes later, Claude finished his drink before standing up as well. His mind was filled with thoughts about his home - Patch.

* * *

Patch was a large island to the west of Vale where he and Summer were originally from. The trip to the island required the person to go to the port, where he would take an airship transport leaving from Vale.

As the airship was on the air, making its way towards the island, Claude was standing before a window, overlooking the scenery below him. Another change since he woke up - back in the day, the transport from Patch to Vale and vice-versa was done via water, and as the time went by along with the improvement of technology, air transport was deemed faster and more efficient than sea.

However, when Claude could see the island from afar, and the distance got steadily closer, his heart felt… heavier as well. He would soon arrive to Patch, his home, and many different things than he remembered were waiting for him.

Closing his eyes, Claude's mind drifted to the memory of the old days.

 _...Welcome home, Claude! How was your first year in Beacon? Were you sent to fight a bunch of grimm? Were you eating properly? Did you get into troubles? Did you make friends?_

He remembered the time when Summer would always welcome him home first whenever he planted his feet back on Patch on school holidays, followed with questions about his school days.

 _...Come on, bro! We are going to have our favourite for dinner tonight and the market is having special deals! We gotta hurry!_

The moment when Summer would always drag him around the island, whether to shop, or just to do whatever and enjoy the day outside.

… _.Look, look! I'm accepted to enrol Beacon next year! Oh, things are going to be amazing! We're going to kick a lot of butts together! I can't wait to meet your team!_

 _...Wait, what do you mean we will be on a different team and a different year?!_

Claude involuntarily snorted as he smiled at Summer's expression, when she was accepted into Beacon Academy but forgot to take their age-gap into consideration.

When he opened his eyes, the ship was on the way descending on the Patch Port's landing space. One thing dawned to his mind, and his mood took a worse turn; because his little sister would no longer be there to welcome him home.

True to his thought, it felt strange when for the first time, nobody was waiting for him when he stepped into the port with a somewhat heavy heart. He looked around to see the place had undergone some changes as well. He turned to look at people around him - young and old, man and woman. He wondered if some people on Patch would remember him.

As interesting as it sounded, Claude did not want to gather any attention for the time being. He then ruffled his hair, undoing the swept back hair and letting the bangs down to cover almost the upper-half of his face. It was not much, but considering his swept-back hairstyle had been his 'default' looks, his current hairstyle should be enough to keep the eyes off him.

He looked at the map near the entrance to the port - so far, Patch did not look much different than the last time he remembered – that was a good start. He took a map from the information centre just in case, and he began his trek towards his destination.

Patch had undergone several changes - new, taller buildings, but at least the roads did not change, giving Claude easier time to navigate his way, as he leisurely walked despite the hair that was blocking his eyes. He could see Signal Academy from his location, the building was more or less the same since the last time he saw it. A primary combat school that taught children about basic combat and self-defence in the face of dangerous wilderness.

As much as he wanted to visit his old school, Claude had somewhere else he needed to be. He turned on his heels, his eyes lingered at the academy for a bit longer. Unbeknownst to Claude, while his eyes were staring at Signal, he completely missed a pair of young girls walking past not far from him - one was older and taller than the first, possessing a long blonde hair and a pair of purple lilac eyes; while the other was clad in a red hooded cloak, possessing a short black hair with red accents and a pair of silver eyes.

oXo

The girl in red cloak paused on his trek to turn and look at the man who just walked by. Her silver eyes lingered on the man's hair, and most importantly, the weapon that was strapped on his retreating back. Population in Patch was not that high compared to the mainland, and Huntsmen carrying weapons in the town were quite a common sight everywhere by this day and age. However, during her life in Patch, the girl could not remember to see a man with such a weapon before. A tourist? Or huntsman on business from the mainland, perhaps?

"Ruby…?" the girl with blonde hair called out when she noticed the shorter girl had stopped walking. "...What's wrong, sis?" she asked as she caught up to her 'sis' - Ruby.

"That guy in that red coat… Have you ever seen him around before?" Ruby asked, still looking at the direction where the man slowly disappeared into the crowd.

The blonde girl looked up to see a glimpse of red and metallic black and white vanished into the crowd. A teasing grin slowly grew on her lips. "What's this? My sister is finally taking interest in someone instead of weapons?"

"Yang, for your information, I was about to ask you about the weapon on his back." Ruby retorted, but her cheeks were sporting a healthy shade of pink. "Moving on, did you see the emblem on his shield?"

The older girl - Yang stared at the direction where the mystery man just disappeared for another second before she shrugged. "Sorry, wasn't paying attention. I don't think I've seen him before… What is it about the emblem?"

"Well… I could've sworn the emblem looked kind of similar with the ones on mom's personal stuff." Ruby said with uncertainty in her tone. After all, she could have been seeing things.

Yang blinked at her younger sister before shifting her gaze at the direction where the mystery man had gone into - this time with more critical eye. But few seconds later, she huffed while shrugging again. "Huh, might be a coincidence. Flower emblems are not that unheard of, am I right?"

"...I guess." Ruby replied with her own shrug.

Yang then decided to drop the subject and turned on her heels towards the opposite direction. "Okay, that's enough about boys. Come on, sis. We're burning daylight here." Yang urged the younger girl to keep up.

Ruby followed suit, but her eyes lingered at the crowd for few seconds longer. For some reasons, she felt a tug on something deep inside her, when her mind drifted at the stranger with sword and shield in red coat.

oXo

Claude made a quick visit to a flower shop, considering what he wanted to do at Patch in the first place. He bought a small bouquet of white and red roses - Summer's favourite.

When Claude was at the cashier registry, his eyes recognised the one standing behind the desk - a lady who was used to run the flower shop on her own, back when Claude and Summer were still attending Signal. The shop owner was older now - with wrinkles on her face and greying hair. When the money exchange was underway, Claude noticed that age had caught up with the lady, as her hands would shake ever so slightly while slowly working on the cashier machine.

"...Are you okay, ma'am?" Claude could not help but ask out of concern.

"Oh, don't worry, dear. I am fine, thank you for asking." The old lady smiled warmly at the younger man. However, when their faces met, the old lady paused for a second as she squinted her eyes slightly. "...Excuse me, young man…. But have we met by any chance before?"

Claude blinked behind his bangs. It seemed things would never go as smoothly as he wanted, after all. "...I'm afraid not, ma'am." he replied with a smile of his own.

"Oh, I'm sorry, then." the old lady put a hand on her lips sheepishly. "...It seems my eyes are failing me, after all. Your eyes sort of remind me of the young Ruby and her mother." she remarked without any sign of suspicion in her tone.

Claude winced at the remark - he had to leave before the lady in front of him noticed anything else. "That's fine, ma'am; but I'm afraid I have to go. Thanks for the flower." Claude gave a polite nod.

"Thank you for your purchase and have a lovely day." the old lady smiled and Claude finally left the shop with his bouquet. The man sighed in relief once he was far enough from the shop. That was a close one.

Claude then made another quick detour at another shop, this time he came out from the store with a pair of sunglasses covering his silver eyes. With this, no one should be able to recognise him.

He then took out his scroll and browsed through the files. His finger tapped a note and an address showed up on the screen - the place where Summer's grave was, courtesy of either Ozpin or Qrow.

Following the map and road signs, Claude navigated his way towards Summer's grave without much difficulty. His trek led him through the town's borders to a path towards the hills, a two-fork road, a dense forest, until he arrived at a large clearing that ended with a sheer cliff overseeing the town of Patch below.

It was early spring, so while the temperature was supposed to be gradually warmer, the air was still rather chill from the previous winter. Taking off his sunglasses, Claude scanned over the clearing before him until his eyes landed on a small tombstone at the edge of the cliff.

Making up his mind, Claude took a step forward and he walked until he arrived right in front of the grave, his sister's grave. Several leaves and twigs were scattered - covering the stone. Claude kneeled down and used his bare hand to swipe clean the stony surface, and once he did, he could see a writing on the stone.

 _Summer Rose / Thus Kindly I Scatter_

Claude's gaze softened at the writing; it was a line from Summer's favourite poem, because her name was taken from the theme of the said poem. He smiled lightly at the childhood memory, where Summer would ask him to read the poem as her bedtime story from time to time.

"...I'm home, Summer." Of course, there was nobody replying back.

Few seconds after reminiscing, Claude then set down the flower he just bought near the gravestone, and he closed his eyes again in prayer. He did not follow in any particular religion, but at least he still knew about offering a prayer to the dead, or whatever god that dealt with the matters of afterlife.

However, when the moment of silence was interrupted when Claude heard several steps and growls from behind him. He turned his head enough for his eyes to see several black monsters coming out from the woods - the Creatures of Grimm.

Claude took a deep breath as rage started to shimmer within him. Could not they at least wait until he finished unwind and mourning? But most importantly – how dare these beasts desecrate his sister's final resting place?

 _Whatever, might as well using them as means to blow off some steam._

Standing up from his kneeling position, Claude turned around to see that the numbers of grimm had increased until there were around one or two dozens in number. Glaring at the beasts, Claude balled his hands into tight fists as few sparks appeared around his frame.

The enemies were Beowolves – the most commonly sighted grimm in the wilds. They had appearances of werewolves, with bony masks and red linings; and spiky protrusions on their backs and limbs. Among them was one particular Beowulf that was noticeably bigger and possessing more bone-like armour and protrusions.

The black beasts were glaring, gnashing their fangs and claws at the human before them - and they charged with a howl.

Claude himself also began to run towards the pack. Generally speaking, charging alone against a concentrated, pack of Beowulves would be suicidal. However, Claude was not exactly a normal person, or huntsman in that regard.

The Alpha Beowulf was standing way behind his pack, which was running at him. Against a simple formation, one could either sneaked his way through the mass of grimm with sheer agility, or broke the formation with brute force. Claude's style was leaning towards the latter.

Reaching towards his Shatter Storm, Claude twisted the handle and the mechanism quickly transformed the connected sword and shield into a great twin-bladed axe. Once he had closed enough range, he jumped and raised his axe over his head, the blade was charged with electricity produced from his Semblance - and slammed the axe right in the centre of the pack.

BOOM!

The impact caused a lightning-fused shockwave that knocked the surrounding grimm away, as well as pulverizing some of the poor creatures that were in the epicentre of the attack. Dust and debris were flying around, and the Beowulves were in disarray. Not wasting any time, Claude retracted the axe and detached the weapon back into a sword and shield set; then the man quickly attacked the nearest grimm.

The sword-and-shield form of Shatter Storm was designed for balanced offensive and defensive power. Unlike the textbook fighters where they focused the sword solely for attacking and the shield solely for defending - both sword and shield of Shatter Storm were weapons for attacking and defending in the hands of Claude Rose.

Of course, Claude was still aware the fundamental function of each weapon in his hands. In the end, his sword was meant to hack, stab and cut through the body of grimm into pieces. His shield was meant to block against the enemy attack, but Claude improvised by using his shield to bash the grimm away as well - forcing the grimm to stumble, allowing openings for Claude to land a finishing blow. Not mention, considering the shield possessed a sharp edge in its axe-form, Claude had used the shield more than one occasion to cut through the grimm's flesh.

BONK!

Claude just knocked a Beowulf away with his shield, when the grimm fell to the ground, it was vulnerable enough for Claude to stab his blade through its face, killing it instantly. The remaining grimm then managed to surround him again and charged from every direction.

That was when Claude would fused his sword and shield again into a great axe. With bigger mass, Claude could gain more momentum as he swung his axe in full circle against the grimm. The grimm that was not cut through immediately was sent reeling towards their brethren, and Claude would finish his attack with another overhead strike towards the ground, causing another shockwave that knocked the grimm away, if not outright killing them.

Once Claude regained enough room, he would detached his weapon to a sword and shield again; before he waltzed through the grimm-infested battlefield.

Truth to be told, he was not in complete advantage himself. Usually, he could make a quick work on this amount of grimm if he were to go all out. However, he could not afford to ruin the site of Summer's grave. The shockwave he produced with his great axe every now and then was already pushing it enough.

Secondly, the nature of his Semblance burned a lot of his aura, especially if he were to use more of his long-range ability. With the amount of grimm covering the clearing still thick, Claude could not risk wasting his aura so early in the game.

Cycles of blocking, parrying, bashing, hacking, slashing, stabbing, combined with several evasive movements, went on as Claude decimated the Beowulves left and right. As he kept fighting however, his eyes would catch few glimpses of his sister's grave - the sight of the tombstone triggered bunch of memories in his mind.

 _Claude Rose, Bartholomew Oobleck, Peter Port and Roman Torchwick. From today onwards, you four will work together as team CBPR, led by Claude Rose._

 _How do you do, Claude Rose. Bartholomew Oobleck, at your service._

 _Peter Port, a pleasure._

' _Sup, partner. The name's Roman, fashionista hunter extraordinaire. Be sure not to break down on me, okay? We're stuck with each other for the next four years, after all._

The memory of good old days - the founding of his team; bunch of misfits, with Roman and Claude himself as the main contributors.

 _Claude, over here! These are my new friends; Taiyang, Qrow and Raven; together we made team STRQ! Sounds pretty cool, right?_

The memories of his sister's first year in Beacon with her first team - he could not forget Summer's expression that morphed from ecstatic into abject horror when she learned that she was appointed as the leader of the said team, with responsibilities and other things.

As Claude slammed his shield at another grimm and proceeded to bludgeon it to death, his feelings only got bitter and sourer at the memories he shared with team STRQ.

 _Nice to meet you, Claude. Taiyang Xiao Long - slayer of women, wooer of evil…. Wait._

 _Branwen, Qrow Branwen. I take you are Summer's so-called super big brother?_

 _Raven Branwen. So….. You are_ that _Claude Rose, huh?_

Claude ran and skidded down to cut off one Beowulf's leg, before he spun and stabbed his blade right at the centre of the grimm's back. For a good measure, he pushed his blade upward, cutting the grimm's top-half vertically.

As one grimm ambushed him from his six, Claude was barely able to put up his shield to block the attack, the force behind the grimm's strike caused him to stumble back. Meanwhile, more flashes of memories kept flooding into Claude's head, as he growled in fury - either to the grimm or to himself.

 _...Shit!_

 _Language!_

 _Claude, we have an incoming airborne from 1 o'clock and more on the ground from 11._

 _Barty, Pops, set the perimeter - keep the airbornes off our backs! Rome, you and me will deal with those on the ground!_

 _Roger!_

 _...Is no one gonna address that pops just yelled… 'language'?_

Memories of team CBPR went on missions, either fighting grimm or people threatening the peace - Claude crashed his shield against a couple of Beowulves in straight line and he barrelled his way forward, crashing through more grimm in the process.

Then, as he knocked the grimm away again, he kept fighting when the remaining grimm lunged at him. This time, flashes of memories with STRQ came to mind.

 _Zapper…. You can't hold yer drink worth a shit…_

 _Hehehe… Fug ye..._

The time when he and Qrow spent by drinking in local bar. Who knew how many bars had been ruined by the boys of CBPR and STRQ?

 _...What's with that reaction?_

 _What are you talking about? I'm laughing at your puns, see? Hahaha._

 _No, no. That's the fakest laugh I've ever heard in my whole life._

The memory where Tai would sometimes try his brand of jokes on him. The guy genuinely always tried to keep the mood bright, but the only way he knew was to make a fool out of himself, while also being mildly annoying in few occasions.

 _So why are you here again, then?_

 _I'm doing this because your sister just won't leave me alone!_

 _Oh, you said you can't go along with Summer, now you're listening to her? Make up your damn mind._

 _Screw you!_

 _That's my line, you shrew!_

 _See, you two are getting along already!_

 _Shut up, Summer!_

Raven Branwen was…. difficult, and that was an understatement. She had this Darwinistic philosophy when she entered her first year in Beacon, and that attitude, combined with a sheer confidence that borderline with arrogance, not to mention the actual skill to back it up; made it hard for her to blend in with her peers.

However, Claude for some reason was attracted to her aggressive side, and with Summer's intervention and prodding every now and then, Claude and Raven gradually got closer, with the former learned more and more sides of Raven that nobody ever knew, even Qrow.

And speaking of which, Summer…

The only grimm that remained at the clearing of the cliffside was the Alpha, and it howled once again before charging at Claude with reckless abandon.

 _...There you are. Did you really have to do that? What did I tell you about discrediting yourself?_

 _...So what if we are destined to lead a life filled with battles? Doesn't mean we are not allowed to be happy every now and then._

 _...This world is beautiful, and worth fighting for._

 _...Heroes do exist._

 _...No matter how people, and even you, see yourself; you will always be my hero, big brother._

The memories of his sister, good and bad, only fuelled the rage within Claude, as he knew that he would never see her smile again.

Claude growled even louder, as he slammed his shield and sword together into its axe form, and with a quick spin, he hurled the axe all the way until the blade carved its way into the Alpha's torso horizontally. However, at the same time, the Alpha also caught the weapon with its arms; its hide and fur prevented the axe from dealing a fatal damage.

However, the fact did not change that the axe's blade was buried quite into its body, and the Alpha yanked the weapon out and tossed it aside, before howling in pain and rage at the human.

"RAAAAAARGH!"

Claude himself responded with his own rage-induced roar, as sparks of electricity burst out from his frame. He ran at full speed towards the injured grimm, with electricity running through his limbs and body. He charged at the grimm that was more than twice his height, then leapt to ram his knee towards the grimm's bony face.

CRACK!

The electricity running on his legs enhanced the power behind the strike as the half of the mask covering the Alpha's face was shattered in one hit. When the grimm fell onto its knees, it growled to see Claude was already reeling his right fist back.

BAM!

The electricity-laced punch hit the grimm square on its jaw, leaving it disoriented. Then, Claude roared once again as he unleashed his rage into a combination of powerful punches and kicks - all of them were focused to maximize the damage.

With one last uppercut, the Alpha was running on fumes - judging for its inability to even stand up.

Claude then grabbed both of the Alpha's upper and lower jaw, and that was when his last memory of his sister - injured and powerless flashed in his mind.

 _C...Laude…_

"...RRAAGH!"

With one last roar, Claude mustered the strength of his arms and tore the Beowulf's head apart with sickening crunch; leaving The carcass unceremoniously crumpled on the ground.

The creatures of grimm in the area were finally taken care of. The Alpha's corpse was slowly evaporating into black smoke as Claude stood over it, trying to regain his breath. He brought his hand to his hair and swept it back - the feeling of the cool wind brushing against his face somewhat soothed him.

He then looked back at the gravestone. The fight earlier had caused some grime, dry leaves and twigs to litter the stone due to the whole commotion, the flowers that he left nearby was slightly crumpled.

He quickly ran towards the grave, his hands quickly removed the leaves and twigs; he even took off his coat and made it a makeshift rag to dust off the grime. He sighed as he finally fixed the flower arrangement - it was not as good as before, but at least there was still something.

With another breath, Claude felt that he had enough and he looked up to see that it was already dusk - the sun was starting to set at the faraway horizon. When he was distracted by the beautiful sight, Claude nearly jumped when he heard a branch being broken. Sensing another presence in the area, Claude whipped his head around, his body was ready for another brawl.

However, instead of grimm, Claude's silver eyes were looking at a familiar sight of blonde hair and blue lilac eyes. The said eyes were staring wide at him, as if they were seeing a ghost - the owner's mouth muttered a single word few moments later.

"...Claude?"

* * *

 **That's the wrap for now. For my followers who asked about my One-Punch DxD, I've put up some kind of Teaser Trailer for what I plan for the main Legacy story. Note that the preview will change over time and will not necessarily match what I will write later on. And one more thing, if you guys have concerns about that One-Punch DxD, please PM me, or at least type your review/comment at the related story instead of this one. Thank you.**

 **Ahsoei, over and out.**


	3. Catching up (II)

**RWBY: The Redeemer**

 **Beta-read by Starlight's Poet**

* * *

 **Chapter 2: Catching up (II)**

Taiyang Xiao Long was having… pretty much a normal day as any other. The morning began with him preparing breakfast for her daughters - Yang and Ruby, as well as for Zwei, a family pet; then he would go to work while the girls went out to spend the day.

The school was still on holidays, but Tai was still required to make quick rounds at the Academy, considering his position as a teacher. Sorting out paperworks for new, present and graduating students; preparing new materials and curriculum for the next semester, making sure that equipments for practical lessons were still working in order, and other pre-semester matters.

Speaking of school, Taiyang smiled at the thought of his two daughters. His eldest, Yang, had graduated from Signal Academy and was about to enrol into Beacon Academy to further her studies to be a huntress by the next school term. The younger, Ruby, would enter her second year at Signal Academy; and both of them were showing promises that he was so proud of them.

He managed to end his work a bit early in the afternoon, might as well headed back home and did something productive for the house - a simple cabin at the outskirts of the town. Once Tai entered his home, he did a quick look around; it seemed that Zwei did not loiter around the place - that was a good start, that meant Tai only needed to clean off the dust. The girls' rooms were tidy… more or less. Ruby and Yang were still rather shabby in keeping their room clean, but at least they did enough to make his chores easier.

Taiyang huffed in satisfaction as he finished to sweep the last section of the floor. He looked at the clock - there was still some time before he had to make dinner, thus he decided to pay a visit to one more place.

Considering the last time he went to his wife - Summer's grave, it might be a good time for him to give a visit, as well as check up at the site. He predicted that they would be some leaves, twigs, or other stuff that the wilds gave on the tombstone, which required a bit of cleaning. It was another way for him to honour Summer's memory.

He prepared the necessary tools; just a simple bucket of water and a rag. He also picked few flowers from his garden - Summer's favourite roses, and set out towards the destination. The place was not exactly close from home, but the distance could still be covered on foot.

When he was walking through the forest that led to the Summer's grave-site, he felt the scroll in his pocket buzzed. Tai took a look and saw there was a message from his old friend - Qrow.

What did he want? While Qrow was still in touch from time to time and went back to Patch to spend time with the kids, he was not the type to be the first to send a message.

Before Tai could have read the message, a howl was heard from the distance, then followed with an explosion; which came from the direction of Summer's grave. His eyes widened - he could recognise the howl from his line of work, and the explosion was definitely created by people.

There was a grimm sighting, someone was fighting them, and probably in trouble. Tai then put his scroll back to his pocket - Qrow could wait, put down the rest of his belongings, and he dashed through the woods. On the way, his mind wondered; who else could be visiting Summer's grave around this time? Qrow? And his body went cold when the image of his daughters came to his mind. Those thoughts only made Tai ran even faster, as more howls and explosions were echoed.

Few minutes later, Taiyang suddenly heard a roar - sounded feral, but it was definitely a man's voice. It definitely did not belong to the girls, and it was not Qrow's either. However, something in his gut told him that he knew the voice somewhere.

The voices of battle finally stopped when Tai saw the exit of the woods, and when he arrived at the clearing, his eyes were looking at few scorched marks on the ground, a carcass of Alpha Beowulf that just finished vaporizing, and his eyes widened at the weapon that was sprawled not far from the spot where the grimm just vanished. He definitely recognised the White Rose emblem on the weapon anywhere.

Taiyang's gaze then shifted to a man who was kneeling before his late wife's tombstone. The outfit was a bit different, but Taiyang could recognise the colour of his hair, and the posture of his back. He involuntarily took a step forward, his feet stepped on and broke a random branch on the ground.

The man before the grave turned towards him, and Taiyang felt his heart caught in his throat. It was surreal - aside from his youngest daughter and his late wife, Taiyang only knew one more person who possessed a pair of silver eyes. "...Claude?"

oXo

On the other hand, Claude Rose found himself staring at the newcomer at the other end of the clearing. He knew this man; the man looked older and haggard, but Claude recognised the man's main features - blonde hair and lilac blue eyes. His attire was slightly different from the last time he saw him, but the theme was more or less the same.

"...Tai?" Claude narrowed his eyes.

The two men only stood there, staring at each other as an uncomfortable silence fell upon them. Thankfully, a minute later, Claude took the first step forward to approach Taiyang. Seeing the former approaching, the latter decided to approach as well, making sure that he was not seeing things.

The two were finally facing each other in the middle of the clearing, at arm's reach. At the same time, silver eyes and lilac blue eyes were regarding each other, trying to come up with something to say, or do.

Another few minutes later, Claude finally had enough and decided to break the awkward silence.

"So-!"

WHAM!

However, when Claude was about to start a conversation, he suddenly fell to the ground after receiving a solid haymaker from Tai. It did not hurt much thanks to his remaining aura protecting him, but the force caused Claude to blink before he looked up at Taiyang, who was sporting a mixed feelings on his expression.

"...Where the hell have you been, you jackass?!" Tai exhaled as he looked somewhat relieved(?) while reaching his hand out towards the man on the ground.

Claude only stared at the extended hand, before he gave a good-natured sigh and took the offer. He stood up, a bit closer since Tai just pulled him up; he ruffled his hair back to its unkempt style, and proceeded to head-butt Taiyang's face.

WHAM!

This time, Tai dropped on his rear as his hand was massaging his throbbing nose. "...And what was that for?!"

Claude only snorted with a smirk. "...For fucking my ex-girlfriend and my sister." he then offered his own hand towards Taiyang.

Tai wanted to make a retort while pointing out a finger, but he paused as he went into thinking. Few seconds later, he shrugged as he took Claude's hand. "...Okay, fair enough, but still!" Taiyang stood up as held his ground. "Do you have any idea how devastated those two when you're gone?"

Claude's only reply was a bitter, downcasted look, and Taiyang immediately stopped pushing the subject at the sad look on the former's face. Sighing, Taiyang then placed his hand on Claude's shoulder and gave a pat. "It's getting dark. Care to come to my house? I think we need to talk."

Claude looked at Taiyang for a second before sighing and gave a nod in acceptance. When Claude went to retrieve his Shatter Storm, Taiyang took out his scroll to check on Qrow's message.

 _I won't beat around the bush - You won't believe who I just found on my last mission._

Taiyang scoffed at the message before he typed his reply.

 _I just met him. He's coming to my house._

* * *

Claude was sitting inside a large dining room that also doubled as the kitchen, looking around at the wooden interior of the house, which was a two-story log cabin with a sheet metal roof in dull-red. The dining room/kitchen he was in itself was accessible through a doorway leading from the living room.

While waiting for Taiyang to prepare some refreshments in the kitchen corner, Claude scanned the whole inside of the house - the chairs, tables, rugs, portraits, furnitures, etc., until he came with a conclusion about the house.

Nice, simple and cozy, away from the bustling noises from the town, this was definitely Summer's idea for dream home; it was also hard to believe that Raven actually left rather than staying in this place.

 **Woof!**

Claude blinked as he heard the bark, as well as sound of small footsteps coming towards him. He looked down at the source to see a dog - a black-headed tricolor corgi with grey eyes, wearing a red collar with a gold pendant bearing a vertical black bone with two black dots on either side. The said dog was sitting not far from him, panting happily while looking at him.

The young man smiled fondly and reached out to pat him. However, when his fingers were only few centimetres away, the dog suddenly pulled back while letting out a small whimpering noise. Claude quickly pulled his hand back as well - at least the dog did not choose to walk away, instead it chose to look at him funny.

Claude then blinked as he just remembered - the Semblance that he had trained for years had been active for 24/7, but with lowered output so the nature of his Semblance would not be noticeable. Animals with sharp senses could still feel the Semblance enveloping Claude's frame. For the record, that quirk gave him some hard time socializing with Faunus, but that was a story for another time.

Taking a deep breath, Claude then willed his power to deactivate completely; when he reached out towards the dog once again, this time the corgi hummed happily when Claude's palm softly pressed against its head.

"That's Zwei, this house's pet dog."

Claude then noticed that Tai had returned to the table with two mugs of steaming drinks. He set them down and Claude could smell a relaxing scent from his cup. Taiyang then kneeled down to pat Zwei on the head. "Zwei, can you leave us for a bit? You can come back when it's dinner time."

The dog whimpered - slightly disappointed at the order, but it eventually licked Taiyang's palm before scurrying out of the dining room few seconds later. Seeing his dog had left, Tai then stood up to take his own seat across Claude.

"The herbal tea that Summer usually brewed for you." Taiyang remarked as he cupped his own mug with both hands. "...I take you still like them?"

"Yeah…" Claude smiled lightly as he took the mug and had a sip, revelling the bitter taste. Then when Claude put down his mug, he gave the room one more glance. "...I gotta say, though; you got yourself a very nice house here… And a cute dog to add."

Taiyang smiled at the compliment. "Thanks, I'd been taking care of Zwei's mom before her passing, and I bought the estate from an old couple, not long after I… married Raven." His eyes dimmed slightly at the mention of his former wife.

"I see…" The mood in the room went down for a moment until Claude sighed. "Speaking of which… I'd like to hear about how you managed to hook up with _both_ Raven and Summer." he said with a smirk - resting his chin on top of his hands on the table.

However, Taiyang swallowed a small lump when he noticed a strange glint in Claude's eyes.

Seeing the worry in Taiyang's face, Claude put his hands up. "Don't get me wrong, we both know those two are smart girls. It's just…" his expression suddenly turned 'awkward'. "...Y'know, Raven never really looked at you before."

Taiyang blinked once before he sighed, his posture relaxed slightly. "Well…. To be honest, I don't really know either. When Raven was depressed… All I did was offering her my support, y'know, trying to be nice and all. Then… The rest of the things just happened so fast." he shrugged, as his expression went fond slightly. "...And by the time I knew, I proposed, she accepted, and we were standing together at the aisle."

Claude simply stared at Taiyang for few seconds, his chin was prepped by one hand, and he exhaled. "Huh… Okay. I'll take your word on that." he then let go of his chin and prepped his hands together on the table. "...Then, do you have any idea why, or where she disappeared to?"

Taiyang sighed as he looked downcast. "Barely six months after our first daughter, Yang, had born… Raven just suddenly left without a word - no goodbyes, no letters, nothing. I don't think I need to tell you, but I was kind of a wreck." He scoffed with Claude snorted in response. He then took another sip of his hot drink and his eyes gained another fond look. "...Then it was around the time when Summer came to the picture."

Claude looked downcast as well, his mind digesting the news about Raven. He took a deep breath, putting his thoughts about Raven for later time, since he got another thing he wanted to know. "Yeah, about that…. How did it happen between you and Summer?"

Taiyang took a deep breath at the mention of his late wife - his expression somewhat brightened in reminiscence. "...Even after Beacon, Summer was still looking after everyone to the best of her ability." Taiyang said while smiling. "She's just…. _Amazing_ , you know? She's supposed to be single back then, but she took care of Yang while I wasn't around, as if she'd been used to deal with children for her whole life. Seeing her cradling my baby Yang in her arms, with her gentle face…. I found myself falling for her." Taiyang chuckled as his face sported a faint blush. "Then… once again, I confessed to her, we got together, and… We got our daughter, Ruby."

"...That's my baby sister for you." Claude snorted as he smiled in understanding. "I wished I could've given you a proper pep-talk, ultimatum, and blessing for courting Summer, but…. Thanks for accepting her."

"I think that should've been kind of the other way around; she's way out of my league, and yet _she_ accepted _me_." Tai smiled sheepishly as his arm wiped his misty eyes.

The talk between the two seemed to reach a common ground, as Claude raised his mug. "So… To Summer."

"To Summer." Taiyang also raised his mug and the two shared a quick toast.

The two fell into somewhat comfortable silence, enjoying their warm drink, until Taiyang decided to speak up. "Just to clarify, I'm not sorry about things with Raven." He met Claude's silver orbs with his lilac blue.

"Never expect you to." Claude simply shrugged. When he received a look from Taiyang, he quickly elaborated. "Raven is not stupid… I mean, with her view about how life works, and my lineage…" Claude reached up and brushed his fingers on his eyelids. "…Things… probably won't work out between us in the end. Hell, I probably end up leaving her a widow." He ended with humourless chuckle.

"Claude…" Taiyang's expression went sombre at Claude's self-depreciating thought.

"The down line is…" Claude said with a deep breath. "…Raven is probably better off with you; normal family, normal life… And her leaving… That's her problem, not yours." Claude shrugged then raised his mug again. "So… For Raven?"

Taiyang stared at Claude for few seconds before he sighed and raised his mug as well. "…For Raven." Another toast was shared.

The atmosphere in the room lightened up, and Claude spoke once again. "Moving on… I heard about your kids, and… " Claude's eyes gained a concerned look. "Do they know about… y'know, _me_?"

Taiyang frowned ever so slightly as he shrugged. "There's not much pictures of you to begin with; although Summer did tell some stories about you for a couple of times. But that was when the girls were still too young to remember; at best they only know you by name." then his expression lightened. "...Actually, both of them should be home for dinner soon enough. I'm asking you, keep it together when you see them."

Claude blinked before narrowing his eyes slightly. "...Why? And are you implying that I'm gonna freak out?"

Taiyang held up his hands defensively. "Well, maybe not exactly freaking out, but…"

However, whatever Taiyang was about to say was interrupted by the voices from the front door.

"Dad, we're home!"

"Hey, Zwei! We're back! Did you miss us?"

The two men froze for a second before both of their heads turned towards the source of the voices. Taiyang was the first to recover as he moved towards the kitchen - the refrigerator in particular. "Welcome home, girls! Err…" Taiyang glanced at Claude for a second before his eyes turned back to the entrance. "Just go up and clean yourselves up, I'm preparing dinner now!" he said as he rummaged through the fridge - the talk with Claude made him kind of losing track of time.

However, the girls decided to go inside the dining room/kitchen with Zwei in tow - which quickly made its way towards Tai whom was working in the kitchen. "What's wrong, old man? It's unusual for you to late preparing... oh, hello there." the girl with blonde hair entered and paused when she saw the guest sitting at the dining table, followed by a younger-looking girl with red cloak and silver eyes.

"Yang, who is it… Oh, um… Hi." the younger girl greeted sheepishly.

Claude's eyes were _wide_ open behind his bangs, staring at the two girls from his seat.

The resemblance was uncanny - change the blonde girl's hair into black and her lilac purple eyes into deep red, she would have looked like Raven. The girl was truly the offspring of her parents.

However, it was even… _more_ when it came to the younger one.

She looked _exactly_ like Summer in her teenage years, with only subtle differences - shorter hair, different tone of voice, and Claude noticed that she was wearing his old hooded cloak - re-stitched and adjusted to fit her short frame.

Claude's jaw was hanging up and down, but his words were caught on his throat. He swallowed as he found it slightly difficult to breath. The young girl before him was undoubtedly Summer's daughter.

His _niece_.

A surge of feelings and emotions washed through him. Claude's vision felt misty, he bit his lower lip and balled his fists so tight that his knuckles went white - it took everything for him not to march forward and pull the girl into a hug.

"Um… Hello?" Claude snapped back to reality and saw the girls were looking at him funny, with the younger one calling to him with concern in her voice. "...Are you okay?"

Claude simply schooled his expression - quickly wiped his fingers over his eyes, and with a deep breath, he smiled at the girls. "Ah, um… Sorry. It's been kind of a rough day for me..." he stood up as he apologized. Once he confirmed that his face was presentable, he looked to address the girls - who were still looking kind of uncomfortable at him.

He wanted to introduce himself, but then again, introducing himself as someone who just vanished for 20 years and still looking in his late teens would only make things even more awkward than ever.

The girls could not know about him; not yet, at least. His eyes quickly darted around the room to come up with some idea of how to carry things out. When his eyes glanced at the the colours of his weapon, he suddenly came out with something.

"...Pardon the intrusion, my name is…" He paused for a second before sticking his hand out. "Sterling… Cole. Nice to meet you two."

From the kitchen, Taiyang quirked an eyebrow at the name, but chose not to say anything.

Both girls stared at the strange pause in the guest's introduction, but the older one smiled back as she took the offered hand. "Yang Xiao Long, a pleasure." she gave a good shake before she gestured the younger one. "...And this is my little sister, Ruby Rose."

"...Nice to meet you too." the younger girl - Ruby smiled as well as she and Claude shared another handshake.

"Say, Cla- I mean, Sterling." Taiyang called out, while playing along with Claude's newly assumed identity. "...Would you like to join us for dinner?" he asked with Zwei standing next to his feet.

Claude blinked at Taiyang for a second before replying, "Ah, no, there's no need. Thanks, but I've been intruding long enough." he shook his head.

"Then I believe it will be more reason for you to stay. You've kept me long enough to making dinner for the girls, so the least you can do is helping me out… And joining us." Taiyang countered with a knowing smile.

Claude only stared at Taiyang for few seconds, until he heard Zwei barked at him. The dog was looking hopefully at him; and Claude turned to look at the girls, whom only shrugged, but otherwise did not object anything. He looked down in contemplation for few seconds more before he gave another sigh.

"...Fine, I'll take up your offer, then." Claude finally relented.

"Excellent." Taiyang's smile widened and he turned to the girls. "Okay, girls. Up and shower, or I'll cut your portion."

The girls immediately straightened up and obeyed, but not before giving one last look at the guest. Once the girls were upstairs, Claude remained standing as he buried his face into his hands and breathed out.

The meeting with the daughter of the woman he once loved and his little sister, was simply overwhelming for him, as his mind was assaulted by past memories. He felt tears were welling in his eyes, but he still refused to break down.

A whimpering voice was heard from below him and Claude looked down to see Zwei was looking worriedly at him, rubbing its head on his leg. He also felt a comforting hand was placed on his shoulder, revealing Taiyang standing next to him. "...You okay?"

Claude ran his hands over his face again with another deep breath, he managed to calm himself down. "Yeah… Yes, I'm good now." he then smiled at the dog at his feet. "...Thanks, little guy." Claude kneeled down and rubbed Zwei's head affectionately.

Claude then stood up and turned to Taiyang - his expression was better. "Come on, Tai. We have a dinner to prepare, remember?" he said as he patted Taiyang's back, and after the latter sighed in relief, the two then went to the kitchen; Zwei opted to remain on standby in the dining area.

However, when Taiyang and Claude began to work on the ingredients, the former shot a latter a dry look. "...I get you don't want the girls to know about you yet... But seriously, _Sterling Cole_?"

Claude only pouted with a blush, refusing to look back at his old friend. "Shut up, let's see if you can come up with a better name."

oXo

"He's… the guy at the town earlier, right?"

In the bedroom upstairs, the girls just finished having their quick showers, and Ruby was helping her big sister drying her hair by holding a hair-dryer, while Yang herself ran her comb through her locks.

Hearing her little sister spoke, Yang looked at Ruby via the mirror in front of her. "Hm? Come to think of it… Yeah, you're right; and looks like dad knows him enough to invite him for dinner. Not to mention..." Yang's expression dimmed slightly in contemplation. "...Is it weird for me to think that I've seen his face somewhere? Like, long time ago?"

"I…. don't know… Maybe?" Ruby blinked at her sister's reflection before she went into thinking as well. "I… also felt a sense of deja vu when I saw him earlier."

Yang stopped her combing, while Ruby kept the hair-dryer up as the sisters went into silence. However, the position where Ruby kept the hair-dryer on began to feel a bit too hot as the hot air kept blowing on it.

"Ow! Hey, Ruby! Stop keeping the dryer on my hair! Turn it off!" Yang shook her head to avoid the hot air.

"Eep! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Ruby quickly pulled the dryer away and clicked it off. "Are you okay there?"

Yang did a quick check on her hair and sighed in relief when she found nothing wrong. "Yeah… I'm good, it's okay, Ruby." she then shook her head again and she smiled at her little sister. "...And you know what? I'm hungry and it's no use thinking of some random guy we just met. Let's just head down, sis." Yang patted Ruby's shoulder before she walked away from the room.

Ruby stared at Yang's back, her mind lingered on the guest for a second before she banished the thought and followed her sister.

oXo

"Still... never thought you actually have it in you, Tai… Forcing me to join you for dinner like that..." Claude commented as he used a knife to chop a carrot with practiced ease, before he moved his knife on an onion.

"It's kind of shame if you just leave without at least getting to know the girls for a bit." Taiyang replied while adding the nicely chopped carrot into his stew, and began stirring. "...So? I take you're surprised at their looks."

"...That's putting it mildly." Claude scoffed, blinking his eyes at the sharp scent of the onion before him. "Those are your children, alright… Especially Summer's as well." However, while the two men were in the midst of cooking, Claude's expression went serious as he lowered his voice. "Tell me, Tai. Your daughter, Ruby… Does she know about her eyes?"

Tai stopped at whatever he was doing, his expression turned into a frown. Claude also paused on his work and the two men stared at each other, small tension started to brew in the air; even Zwei stood up from the floor, its expression mirrored the uneasy atmosphere.

"Smells delicious, what are we having?"

Then, the tension immediately vanished when Claude and Tai heard the two girls entering the room. Tai turned off the stove as he turned and smiled at Claude. "Sterling, mind setting up the table, you can find the plates and utensils at the cabinet over there." the man pointed.

"...Sure." Claude nodded with a small smile as he went to work. Both men knew that their talk was not over.

However, when Claude opened the cabinet and was about to reach for a plate, a hand suddenly landed gently on his arm. "Um… You don't need to do that, just grab a seat. I'll do it." Claude turned to see a pair of silver eyes looking sheepishly at him.

Honestly, Claude needed some time to get used to Ruby's face, it felt like he was looking at Summer every time he looked at her. Thankfully, his mind quickly focused back as he smiled at the young girl. "Oh, it's fine, really. I'm the one intruding here, after all."

"But you are a guest, you should just take it easy." Ruby pushed on, trying to play a hospitable host.

Claude inwardly shook his head. _Seriously_ , the girl even behaved like Summer that it was scary. "...Much appreciated, Ruby. But-!"

"Look, bud. Ruby maybe shy at times, but sometimes she's also a lot stubborn than she looks." both Claude and Ruby turned to see Yang grinning. "Besides, I'm starving, let's just do this together and get this over with, sounds fair?"

Claude and Ruby glanced at one another, then they shrugged at Yang's point. The former then turned to take the glasses and the former took the plates. Soon the girls and their guests quickly set the table together, and Taiyang brought out the food, including another one that had been in the oven.

* * *

The dinner went casually as the four people sat down on the table full of food.

While enjoying the dinner, Ruby's eyes trailed off to the sword and shield that was leaning on the wall at the corner, particularly at the silver rose emblem in the middle of the shield.

"Excuse me, Mr. Cole…" Ruby raised her hand.

However, Claude quickly interrupted her. "...Just Sterling is fine. I'm not that old." he said with a knowing smiling.

Ruby smiled back, feeling slightly more comfortable in front of the man. "Then… Sterling, I kind of curious about the emblem on your shield, it looks… similar with my late mother's. Where did you get it, if I may ask?" her tone somewhat sheepish.

"I'm kind of curious as well." Yang interjected. "...How did you and our dad know each other, anyway?" she asked with her gaze planted on the guest.

Tai and Claude glanced for a second, before the latter took a deep breath with closed eyes. "We've been knowing each other for a while now; me, Tai and Summer." he opened his eyes to see both Ruby and Yang's eyes widened. "...Yes, I know your mother." Claude smiled fondly. On the other hand, Tai also smiled while opting not to say anything.

For Claude, having a scoundrel as your partner for several years had taught him that the best lies were half-truths.

"Sure, we haven't been in touch for some time, and…" Claude's eyes then trailed off at his Shatter Storm. "I'm sorry about your mother, but...I kind of owed her big time back then. When I got my hands on my weapon, I… just chose that emblem to honour her memory." Claude finished, inwardly wishing that the girls in front of her would buy his story.

"That's… the first time I heard about this." Yang commented, although her gaze was not completely distrustful. "Then again, I guess that's mom for you. Right, Rubes?" much to Claude's relief, Yang's expression softened as she turned to her younger sister, who was smiling nostalgically.

Then, to cement things up with the girls, Claude needed something to put a nail on the coffin. "Look, I know it might be rude for me to assume that emblem. If you want, I can change it as soon as I get back to Vale."

"No, no!"

The girls quickly put their hands up defensively. "...You don't need to go that far." Yang said with disarming smile. "In fact, I say you can keep it. Right, sis?"

Ruby was also smiling brightly in agreement. "Yeah, I think mom would be happy about this. Please take care of…" her eyes trailed to the weapon at the corner. "...Does it have a name by any chance?" she asked awkwardly.

Claude blinked as he snorted lightly, looking at his partner. "His name is Shatter Storm."

Both girls let out an 'oh' in amazement. "That's a badass name…. But yeah, do take care of Shatter Storm." Ruby finished.

"I know, right?" Claude said with jovial tone. "...And about taking care of it, you bet I will take care of it." he finished with a small grin.

Yang rested her chin on her hand, her eyebrows were raised at the guest. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but you sound like another weapon geek, just like my sister here." Yang gave a teasing grin at the pouting Ruby.

"Call me what you want, but a good warrior, huntsman or not, always takes good care of their weapons." Claude said while trying to sound sagely.

"Yeah…" Ruby nodded in agreement, and as if on instinct, Claude held up his hand and Ruby met the palm with a high-five.

"Wait… That means you are a huntsman?" Ruby asked with her eyes gaining few glitters, before her expression turned sheepish almost immediately. "I mean…. You look rather young…. Did you just graduate from a huntsman academy?"

Claude blinked at Ruby's excited look before he shrugged. "I guess you can say….. I'm from Beacon."

"Beacon?" Yang perked up. "I'm actually enrolling there soon."

"Is that so?" Claude turned to Yang. "Well... Funny, because I just got a job there."

"...Really?" both Yang and Tai looked with raised eyebrows at Claude, Ruby was kind of staring at him with awe.

"Yeah, not long after I ran to Headmaster Oz, he suddenly offered me a position at his school." Claude explained.

Ruby and Taiyang were showing face of understanding, while Yang simply smiled."Well, I guess I'll be in your care, Professor Cole."

However, Yang's remark caused both Claude and Taiyang to snort, even the latter was almost choked by his own food. While Taiyang was taking a drink to relief his throat, Claude turned to Yang again.

"Look, hun. No offense, but hearing people calling me professor is just… I'm… _barely_ qualified to teach. So I'm gonna tell you first before I'm telling the rest of the students; you don't need to call me professor." Claude said while his eyes glanced at snickering Taiyang. "...So, as I told the young Ruby here, just Sterling will do."

"…If you say so." Yang shrugged, seemingly to ignore the fact that Claude just called her 'hun'.

As the dinner went on relatively light atmosphere, however, both Ruby and Yang could not help but feel a slight tugging in their guts - a sense of familiarity with the young man before them. Nevertheless, they eventually shrugged it off as the time went.

oXo

After dinner, the girls took it upon themselves to clean up the dishes, while Claude was preparing to leave - he was talking with Taiyang one more time in the living room. "I never knew you have this manipulative side on you." Taiyang commented about Claude's story to gain the girls' trust. "...You dirty liar." he said with small smirk.

"You have Roman to blame for that." Claude simply shrugged, as he was ready with his Shatter Storm on his back.

"Here, I actually almost forgot to bring this up." Taiyang said as he gave Claude what it seemed to be a small time-capsule box. "...This is some of… yours and Summer's personal belongings."

Claude stare at the box for a second before accepting it. He opened the box to have a quick look, and he saw few pictures of his younger days; some mini-merchandises and good; and a small, short stick. Claude picked up the stick and noticed it had a cap. He twisted the cap open and recognised the small object as a flash drive - according to Barty, it was a newer type of memory storage device after floppy disk; small, easy to carry, and possessed bigger capacity in storing information.

Looking at Claude staring at the small storage device, Taiyang began to elaborate. "Not long after you're gone, Summer got her hands on a video camera, and she practically recorded bunch of stuff, saying that she would show you later once you come back and all, as well as creating more memories. You should watch those videos."

Claude blinked and looked at Taiyang, before looking back at the device in his hand. "...Thanks." with a nod, Claude then put the drive back in the box and closed it. "By the way, Tai… You haven't answered one question..." Claude's silver eyes then slightly hardened and met with Taiyang's lilac blue. "Does Ruby know about her eyes?"

Taiyang grimaced, not liking the subject. However, he relented with a small breath. "...She's still too young to learn about all of that, don't you agree?"

Claude narrowed his eyes. "...It's only a matter of time until she has to learn, you know."

"Same goes to you; those two will eventually have to learn about you." Taiyang returned Claude's look with a light glare. "...As for Ruby, I hope that time won't come for a _long_ time."

Claude and Taiyang maintained the silent exchange for few seconds before the former gave in first with a sigh. "I see…" Claude tucked the small box under his left arm, while his right hand shook Taiyang's. "Take care, Tai."

"...You too, Claude." Taiyang smiled lightly, making sure his voice was not too loud.

However, when Taiyang opened the door for Claude to leave, Ruby suddenly came to the front entrance. "Please wait!"

Both men blinked when they saw Ruby holding a bag of cookies. "I… baked these yesterday. Would you like to take some of these?" she asked with shy expression.

Claude stared between Ruby and the small bag of treats in her hands. "...For me? You sure?" he asked, pointing at himself.

"Yep. This was baked with my mom's recipe." Ruby's expression brightened.

Claude's expression softened as he gradually took the treats. "Thanks, Ruby. I'll be sure to enjoy these."

Ruby only nodded while smiling brightly - the smile that was as bright as Summer caused a slight pang in Claude's chest, but he ignored it in favour of thanking the young girl. "Have a good night, then."

With that one farewell, Claude finally left the cabin at night. Later, on his way back to Beacon, Claude received a message on his scroll - it was from Qrow.

 _Really, Sterling Cole?_

Claude only rolled his eyes while sighing through gritted teeth. "Dammit, Xiao Long…"

* * *

It was late night at Beacon Academy. After receiving a pass from Glynda, Claude was sitting in front of a computer inside the library, looking through the box's contents, which he found to be memento of Summer. There were pictures of him with his team CBPR, pictures of STRQ, and a picture of both CBPR and STRQ having an end-of-year party.

Claude stared longer at the photograph of CBPR and STRQ drinking together in a bar.

In the picture, young Taiyang was at the corner, closest to the lens - holding the camera while his other hand was holding a beer bottle.

After him, Summer was standing the second closest, smiling wide while her hand posing a peace sign.

Then, in the middle of the picture, Claude and Raven were sitting with a glass of their own drinks in hand - the former's free arm was wrapped around Raven's shoulder; the man was smiling while the woman was smiling lightly.

A little bit behind Claude and Raven, there was Qrow. The man was sitting while leaning on the bar table, with a glass of whisky in hand. His face was looking tipsy as he flashed a goofy smile at the camera.

Standing over Claude and Raven, were the rest of CBPR. Barty and Peter were huddling each other, each of their free hand was holding a bottle of vodka. The mirth plastered on their faces as they laughed at the camera showed that they were intoxicated when the picture was taken. Next to them was Roman, smiling exasperatedly at his two teammates.

Claude smiled fondly at the memory for few minutes; he chuckled when he remembered that Raven decked him in the face for being touchy with her after the picture was taken, and everyone was laughing at the spectacle under the influence of alcohol.

Few moments later, Claude finally put everything else away and faced the computer screen. He had put the flash drive into the machine, and when he browsed through the folders, he found that it was not one lengthy video, it was actually a bunch of short clips recorded by Summer after his disappearance.

Claude prepared the treats that Ruby gave him earlier in front of him, feeling that he wanted to watch while having a light snack at the same time. Following the timeline order, he then clicked the first video open.

(BGM: Cold by Jeff & Casey Lee Williams)

 _Come on, everyone. Look at the camera!_

The first clip revealed Summer's voice as she was pointing the camera at the rest of STRQ, as well as CBPR. From the looks of things, they were having their usual gathering at dormitory's lounge.

The footage moved, showing faces of Claude's old friend. Taiyang and Qrow were smiling, the former was waving his hand at the camera. Then, when the footage moved to Raven on the couch, she only stared at the camera before she scoffed while her lips pursed, then she covered her face with a book.

 _Team CBPR, you too! Look at the birdie!_

Barty and Peter were seen at the other spot in the room, the former was already wearing glasses, smiling at the camera; while the latter lightly chuckled while giving a small wave. The footage then moved to Roman, who stared at the camera for few seconds before he scoffed and waved his hand before leaving. Peter was seen scowling at Roman before he smiled apologetically at the camera and gave chase.

Claude watched sadly as he believed that everyone - especially Raven and Roman, were still recovering from his disappearance. Then, the frame switched to Summer sitting alone in a room, facing the camera.

 _Hey, Claude…. How are you? First of all, I… am making this recording since I don't know if me, or everyone else can make it when you come home, with… you know, huntsmen job, missions and all. So I'm going to make everything worthwhile, it's not like we're going to throw our lives away that easily._

At Summer's speech footage, Claude began to eat the cookies as a means to distract himself from the pang in his heart.

 _It's been... a month since you disappeared on us. Me and everyone else are still hoping you're coming back soon, but otherwise they are fine. Roman's gotten bitter and distant from us… But that's okay! Roman just missed you so much; Peter and Barty are doing their best to cheer him up. Those two are also doing their best to complete their duties and finding you. I just hope they're not pushing themselves too hard… Oh, I almost forgot, Raven won't admit it, but she's the one who misses you… second most after me, of course. That's all for now! Summer Rose, over and out._

Summer gave a salute to the camera before the first clip ended. Claude took a deep breath as his mind drifted to his old friends. What had he done, disappearing for so long? Shaking his head, Claude then took another bite of a cookie, while opening the next clip.

 _Bartholomew Oobleck and Peter Port of team CBPR. While the loss of your two teammates was the most unfortunate, both of you still performed admirably for the remainders of your study at Beacon Academy. Congratulations, huntsmen._

Claude listened to what appeared to be Ozpin giving a speech, the scene took place at some kind of grand hall, with rows of students and teachers sitting, watching a graduation ceremony. He smiled at the footage - Barty and Peter finally received their certificate as qualified huntsmen. However, he could not help but feel down when he did not see Roman; his partner had left the school before even graduated.

 _Hi, Claude. How is it going? And guess what, as today onward, I'm a full-fledged huntress_.

The footage changed to his sister recording herself again, this time Claude noticed that she looked older, more mature. Her hair was a bit longer than the last time he saw her.

 _Although, I may have a... 'little' bad news…. Raven and Tai are getting closer somehow. I'd like to do something about them, after all, you and Raven are a thing…. Right? Anyway, I can't get in between them, since it's Raven who opened up to Tai first. Sounds kind of crazy, isn't it? I want to stop them, but at the same time… I can understand and wish the best for those two as well. So… You better come home quick, or Raven will be taken from you, because Tai is a great guy._

The footage then shifted to what it seemed to be a wedding ceremony. It was not too small, yet not extravagant either - nice and simple. Claude paused on his cookie-eating when he watched Taiyang put a ring on Raven's finger. He felt his chest tightened when Raven and Taiyang sealed their vows with a kiss. Then again, after missing for 20 years, not to mention the path that awaited him in the future, Claude had no right to dictate how Raven should live her life. Taiyang was a great person, he could make Raven happy.

 _She's beautiful… Have you decided on a name?_

 _...Yang, our Little Light Dragon._

The footage then shifted to a hospital room with Raven laid on a bed. Clad in a hospital gown, she was cradling a small baby with blonde hair, with Taiyang standing next to her bed. Summer could be heard fawning over the newborn, and when the camera shifted to Raven, Claude never knew Raven could make such a gentle expression on her face. Perhaps she was indeed happy, even only for a while, when she was living with Taiyang.

 _Come on, Yang. Try to walk to Uncle Qrow._

As he kept munching more cookies in sedated pace, Claude opened more clips, showcasing more times Summer spent with the rest of team STRQ and little Yang Xiao long.

 _Hey, Claude… I hope you're doing well. The thing is… Raven suddenly left, leaving Tai and little Yang behind. I'm not sure what's going on, but…. I'm sure she'll come around soon, and who knows, she might be looking for you. All of us are looking forward to see you both back home._

Claude's heart became heavier every time he watched Summer's message to him, regarding her good and bad times. The next footage showed Summer with somewhat… nervous and giddy expression.

 _Hi, Claude. I…. don't know where to start. Okay, the first thing is, Raven hasn't come home yet...and... You won't believe this, Taiyang confessed to me, and…. I accepted. Wow, I mean... sure, we are best of friends, I love Tai and all, but I never imagined things gonna end up like this between us, you know? Besides, Taiyang is married to Raven, right? I… I don't know what's gotten into me. You know what, I'm gonna straighten things up with him. I'll see you later!_

Claude's eyes began to water as he kept playing Summer's footage.

 _Hi, big brother… Both you and Raven really should come home soon..._

Summer's footage then showed her placing her hands on her belly. Her left hand was sporting a silver band around her ring finger.

 _I… I'm married to Tai, and… I'm pregnant. Our family is growing!_

Despite everything, Summer's expression never lost its light, just like the sun in her namesake. As Claude kept watching his sister's recording, he could feel himself unable to hold on anymore. Tears began to fall, flowing freely on his cheeks, staining the cookies that went to his mouth, making the treats tasted salty.

Nevertheless, Claude ignore the tears as if they were never there, as he was watching the video of Summer holding a small baby in her arms.

 _Brother, allow me to introduce you to my daughter, Ruby._

More tears flowing from Claude's eyes as he began to choke and sniffle, all while he kept eating the cookies he got from his niece - which the baby version of herself was staring and reaching out her tiny hands at her mother.

 _Look at her, she has our eyes. I guess that's just a family thing._

Summer's expression dimmed slightly when she mentioned about the silver eyes.

 _...And with what Tai and Qrow do for living, I guess little Ruby will become a huntress when she grows up. But even so, we will live._

By that point, Claude had finished his cookies, yet his tears were still falling.

 _All of us; Me, Raven, Tai, Qrow, team CBPR… as well as Ruby and Yang…. We will live, and we will welcome you home with open arms. And once you come home, you will help our shares in taking good care of the kids, okay?_

 _...I love you._

Claude brought his hands over his face, muffling his sobs as he kept seeing more footage of Ruby's growth, as well as the time Summer spent with her daughter.

 _Yang, this is your new little sister Ruby…. And Ruby… This is your big sister, Yang._

 _Look, look! Ruby just said 'mama'! Her first word!_

While the footage kept playing until the end, Claude kept watching with his tears freely flowing from his glistening silver eyes. "Summer…" Claude choked out between his sobs. "Summer…!"

He did not bother to count how long he had spent grieving and mourning inside the library. But eventually, the mourning sound ceased; that very moment, Claude made a promise - a promise to Summer, as well as to himself.

Claude slapped his hands on his face, snapping him out of his stupor. After gathering his stuff, Claude walked out from the library with a new-found resolve. Everything that Summer cherished, everything that she had left behind, everything that she had worked hard for in her life - he would protect them, without fail.

" _...Just watch your big brother, sis."_

* * *

It was the night after Claude's visit to Patch. Earlier, Claude spent the day by his daily work out to keep him in shape, finishing his final paperwork to finalise his position as an interim teacher, followed with more research about his objectives - Roman and Raven's whereabouts, the Maidens, and the White Fang.

However, while his research did not bear much fruit, Claude's mind drifted to the topic about the Queen, whom Ozpin briefed him on the day he woke up. The Queen, as Ozpin revealed as a woman named Salem, was an entity that had existed since ancient times, and Ozpin's reincarnation cycle was the product of their clash in the past.

The grimm attack on the day he disappeared - it was way too big to be a simple infestation. Creatures of Grimm might flock together, but the sheer amount of the grimm that team CBPR and STRQ encountered that day, not to mention the abomination that seemed as the leader of the horde; Ozpin suspected that it was an orchestrated invasion, and the Queen was behind it.

Then again, according to Ozpin, ever since Claude seemingly destroyed the abominable grimm 20 years ago, the Queen in question had been keeping a low profile. In the end, he, Ozpin and the rest of their allies could only wait and prepare themselves for whatever it was to come.

At the moment, Claude was walking through the commercial district of Vale, with the new look he used when he assumed the identity of Sterling Cole. He took in the new look of commercial district at night. More lamp-posts, more buildings, and he could tell there were more shops with… questionable business around the streets.

At least his surroundings were peaceful; Claude appreciated as he took out a piece of paper from his pants pocket. On the paper was the address of his destination - courtesy of Peter Port, Junior's Club, owned by Hei 'Junior' Xiong. On that note, Claude took out his scroll and marvelled at the feature electronic map that connected with the kingdom's network - it served to make his search easier.

As Claude kept on his trek to his destination, he saw a familiar face that caused his expression to soften slightly. Quickening his pace, he approached the young girl in front of him. "…Ruby."

The girl in question blinked when her name was called, then a two pairs of silver eyes met each other. "Oh, hi! Um… Sterling, correct?"

"Yep. Good to see you again, Ruby." Claude, or Sterling, opened his arms playfully at Ruby's greeting. "What are you doing here alone?"

For some reason, Ruby saw a small, stern glint in Claude's eyes. "Well… I'm just on my usual nightly stroll to From Dust Till Dawn shop. They're having the latest issue of Weapon's Magz on the shelf!"

Claude stared at his apparent niece for a second. His mind was trying to decipher the word 'From Dust Till Dawn' and 'Weapon's Magz' for several times, until he came to a conclusion that From Dust Till Dawn was probably some kind of Dust shop, and the 'Magz' hinted a magazine book.

As much as he wanted to tell Ruby to go home, since it was not exactly safe for a 15 year-old to walk alone on the streets, he himself had found that the street itself was pretty safe; not to mention, Claude always had a belief - taught by Summer, bless her soul, that even warriors with the same lineage of his were allowed to have a bit of fun every now and then. Besides, Ruby just wanted to browse, and possibly buy some books; what's the worst that could happen?

Then again, Claude could spare some time to accompany Ruby, at least until she arrived at more populated area.

"So… What are you doing here by yourself?" Ruby's question snapped Claude back to reality - the man found the young girl was looking back at him.

"Oh, I… am heading to meet an acquaintance." Claude managed to come up with an answer. "His place is just few blocks down there." he pointed at the direction.

Ruby looked at the direction and she blinked. "We're going at the same direction, then!" she remarked. The two then began to walk side by side.

One minute into the walk, Claude then noticed that the young girl next to him was looking somewhat uncomfortable. He then decided to strike up a conversation to light up the mood. "So, you said you want to check out the latest… Weapon's Magz? Are you into weapons, by any chance?"

Ruby blinked at the sudden question before she replied shyly. "Um… Yeah, I guess you can say that." she then waved her cloak slightly to reveal a red compartment attached on her waist. "...I mean, all students built their own weapons back in Signal Academy."

"Ho, I see." Claude nodded as he took a note at Ruby's weapon. "...I take your weapon there is a firearm? Are you more of a ranged fighter?"

Ruby then grew a smug smile, as she reached her hand at her red compartment. "Close enough, but not quite." She brandished her weapon, which suddenly shifted into a huge mechanical scythe, its blade dug into the ground. "Sterling Cole, say hello to Crescent Rose."

Claude blinked with wide eyes at the newly transformed weapon. "…Bloody hell." He commented in awe at the weapon's mechanism. He was not foreign at the concept of hybrid weapons, but back in the day, weapons with complex mechanism like the one before him was kind of rare among huntsmen. The technology had truly advanced for the past twenty years.

Claude then reached out to get a better feel of the weapon. However, when his fingers were only few inches away, he glanced first at Ruby. "…May I?"

"Just be gentle with her, please." Ruby nodded in permission.

Claude's fingers then brushed around the shaft, his eyes were scanning at the scope and the rounds chamber. "…High-impact sniper rifle... 45? 50 cal.?"

"50." Ruby provided. "Looks like you also know things about guns?" she asked with interest.

"Honestly, I'm more of a melee fighter, but my old friends dabbled in firearms, so I know about a thing or two." Claude replied before he tapped his finger on the blade. "…The steel on the blade… Stainless steel… But I feel there's something else in the metal…"

"Synthetic hybrid metal, but I can't disclose all of them to you; trademark secrets. I hope you don't mind." Ruby replied. Claude only nodded in understanding.

Then, Claude blinked again when he remembered Ruby's previous words. "…Correct me if I'm wrong, but did you just insinuate that you built your own weapon at Signal?" Claude turned from Crescent Rose to Ruby.

"Yes, I did." Ruby nodded proudly.

"So you built this? Get out of here!" Claude stood up and narrowed his eyes playfully at the girl.

Ruby giggled in return. "Well, if it's anything, I got a helping hand while crafting this baby." She folded her scythe back to its standby mode. "…My Uncle, Qrow."

Claude more than just knew the name, but he made sure to act as if he was not overly familiar with the man. "…Qrow, as in Qrow Branwen?"

"You know my uncle?" Ruby asked in curiosity.

"Well… I guess you can say that we're drinking buddies." Claude shrugged, keeping up with his ruse. "...And 'uncle'?"

"Well… It's kind of complicated, but he's part of our family. I've been calling him uncle since like, forever." Ruby explained, while trying not to sound awkward.

"If you say so." Claude accepted. "…Should've known, actually…. If I know anything about him, Qrow is the only person crazy enough to help a girl in building a nasty, _beautiful_ piece of art like that."

"Thank you." Ruby lightly blushed, as she understood the compliment. Then, her eyes drifted to the weapon on Claude's back. "So… What's the story with yours? What does it do?"

"Shatter Storm? He's your every day sword and shield…. Crafted with special metal, durable and great conduit." Claude elaborated as he brandished his weapon.

Ruby could not tear her gaze away at the weapon that glistened under the moonlight. "It's… Beautiful." Ruby said with her eyes began to glitter in admiration. "Okay, while nothing beats the classic and all, does Shatter Storm have any other function?"

"Sorry, trademark secrets." Claude winked as he re-strapped the Shatter Storm on his back.

Ruby pouted for a second, but she did not press the issue further as the two resumed their trek. "So, are you ready for this coming school year?" Claude asked, keeping the conversation going.

"Yeah, I am, more or less. It will be a bit lonely since Yang has graduated to Beacon and all, but… It's not like I'm completely friendless at Signal. Just two more years and I can attend Beacon Academy as well." Ruby replied while keeping her spirit up.

"So you've planned where you want to go after Signal?" Claude glanced at Ruby.

"Yep. I remember that Beacon is the school where dad, mom and uncle Qrow graduated from when they became huntsmen. I'm simply following their footsteps."

"…You want to be a huntress." It was not a question, as Claude's eyes gained an interest glint.

"Yes." Ruby nodded without hesitation. "…I had been hearing stories about huntsmen and huntresses protecting people from Creatures of Grimm, like my mom, for example. I… don't remember much about her, but… I want to see it for myself, the profession that my mom was proud of having… A hero." She smiled at the memory that inspired her today.

"I see…" Claude glanced down for a second. He wanted to tell Ruby that the world was unforgiving, that huntsmen profession were not as noble as the story went by. However, when he saw Ruby's expression, he was reminded of Summer all over again – the bright girl that always saw the good in everyone, the eyes that never lost their light in the face of adversary; a simple, honest soul that would earnestly strife after her ideals no matter what.

In the end, Claude simply smiled as he decided not to voice his mind. "…I guess you just go do what you do." His tone received a look from the younger girl. "…You will do your mother proud." he said genuinely.

Ruby's face brightened up and she nodded at the teen with a wide smile on her face.

Then, as they walked further, they suddenly heard an explosion, followed by someone was blown out from the building in front of them; his body plummeted and bounced until it hit across the road. The explosion from before also shattered the glass window of the said building.

Both Claude and Ruby blinked and stared at the falling body for a second, before they turned back towards the building, to see a blonde young woman coming out from the very same building.

"...Yang?" Ruby was the first to react upon recognition. "What are you doing here?"

The woman - Yang, turned to see her sister, and greeted back. "Oh, hey, sis!" Then she turned to notice that there was another person around. "...And Sterling, you're here too."

"'Sup." Claude nodded - he could have sworn that Yang's eyes were red for a second before turning back to her usual lilac, but he shrugged it off and he walked towards the man - clad in suit on the ground, while the sisters were talking.

It took few seconds as Claude's eyes scrutinised at the man's face - short black hair with matching beard and mustache, until his mind clicked. This was the very man he was looking for. _"Well, Junior is not so 'junior' anymore…"_

"Hey, Sterling!" Claude blinked and he turned around to see Yang addressing him. "What are you doing there?"

"Not much." Claude smiled. "...Just making sure that the guy's still breathing."

"He'll be fine, I didn't hit him that hard." Yang scoffed in response.

"So this is all your handiwork?" Claude remarked, his eyes scanning at the ruined night club in front of him.

"What, are you gonna put me on detention or something?" Yang replied with challenging tone.

"No, no. I'm actually impressed." Claude nodded approvingly. "It's just… if this is how you spend your weekend, then I'm more worried about your future boyfriend, or boyfriend if you actually have one."

In return, Yang simply laughed it off. "Hah! Then I'm out of their league." She then eyed the man before her with slight curiosity. "...By the way, you speak like you know your thing."

Claude shrugged again. "Well, I honestly have my own fair share of bar fight, but this…" he gestured at the club. "...I'll give this one... 7.5 out of 10."

Yang actually gasped as she gave scandalous look. "7.5? 7.5!? That's supposed to be at least 9!" Yang pointed at the club she just wrecked.

"Sorry, girl… But the property destruction itself has already warranted demerit to begin with, and…" Claude then gave a smug smile. "...That nine score belongs to me."

Both sisters stared at the young man before them until the older one scowled. "...You're lying."

Nevertheless, Claude did not lose his composure. "Doesn't matter whether you believe me or not, what matters now is…" Claude glanced around again. "...that this kind of ruckuss has definitely reached the cops, and they are probably on the way here as we speak, and will arrive in any minute now. So, unless you want to spend the rest of the night in local police station or prison until your father bail you out, I suggest you girls leave this place in pronto."

Yang and Ruby blinked as they realised Claude's point. The younger sister shot the older one a stink-eye, which the latter replied with an awkward laugh. "...Huh, point. Alright, Ruby. Hop onto my Bumblebee."

"Okay! But Yang, can you drop me off at From Dust Till Dawn? I still want to go to there…" Ruby replied as she followed her sister, as the two walked towards a yellow sports motorbike, which was parked not far from their position. "Wait, are you coming, Sterling?" she paused to turned to Claude.

Claude simply put his hands on his waist, overlooking the place. "No, I'll stay here and deal with the damage control. You girls go have a good night."

Yang, who was about to put her helmet on, looked at Claude with somewhat skeptical eyes. "...You won't rat us out, right?"

"No, don't worry." Claude snorted while waving his hand. "...Just for the record, I'm not officially a teacher yet, so I can still pretend that I didn't see you tonight. You can trust me."

Yang stared at the silver eyes behind Claude's bangs for a moment. She had yet to know the man long enough, but for some reason she wanted to trust him. Then again, with her time running short - if what 'Sterling' said was true, Yang finally came with a decision. "Fine, I'll give you benefit of a doubt… But you better keep your word, handsome!" she finished with a wink.

Claude simply chuckled as he held his hand up. He nodded at Ruby one more time before the latter returned in kind and caught up with her sister. "Bye, Sterling!" she said after she donned her hood - apparently Yang did not have a spare helmet.

With the sound of engine revving through the night, the two sisters finally left the area. "Oh, boy… Should've told them about safe driving…" Claude sighed at the retreating motorbike.

He then turned back towards the unconscious man, and crouched to close the distance between their faces. Claude then proceeded to wake him up by tapping his hand on the man's cheek. "Hey, Junior. You alive? Wake up, man."

Few tapping later, the older man - Junior began to return to consciousness with a weak groan. He sat up, still groaning while massaging his head with his hand. The blondie from earlier got a really nasty punch - he would have wounded up in hospital if it were not for his aura protecting him. While his vision was still a bit blurry, Junior could make out someone was next to him.

"Come on, bud. Let's get you inside first, you have a club to salvage."

Junior then felt the said someone was offering his shoulder to support him back up. He did not know who this was, but he could appreciate charity every now and then. His aura was depleted, his head was still drumming with headache, but Junior could at least walk with minor assistance.

When Claude brought Junior inside the club, however, the damage was apparently worse than it looked from the outside. "Huh… Maybe should've given her eight out of ten." Claude mused at the sheer destruction at the interior.

oXo

It felt like forever when Junior found himself being brought back to his office - to be precise, he was dropped to seat on the couch near his desk. The office of his ruined club. His vision began to return when he found an ice-pack landed on his lap. Knowing the cue, he then placed the pack on his throbbing head. When his focus had returned, Junior noticed that his bouncers - twin sisters Miltia and Melanie Malchite were sitting by his both sides, while the stranger that helped him earlier was now sitting on another couch across him.

"Thanks, whoever you are." Junior said with a sigh while cooling his head off. "...But can you leave for now? Next time you come, just let me know and all drinks will be on the house." Junior finished by looking straight at the stranger before him.

"Appreciated, but you and I need to talk."

That caused Junior to blink when the stranger swept his hair back with his hand. The club owner then blinked - he had met this man before.

"It's been a while, Junior. Do you remember me? We met in Mistral around 21 years ago and my team saved your old man's turf." the young man said with disarming smile.

Junior's eyes widened - he came from a mafia family in Mistral, and he remembered that his father's group was dealing with severe… insubordination that threatened the entire family business, and a bunch of huntsmen in training got involved in their gang war and ended up saving his father's life.

"...Claude Rose?" Junior breathed out with disbelief look on his face. He then looked between Claude, the twins, and himself. "Is my head utterly fucked up… Or rather, are we dead?"

"No, my friend." Claude said in amusement as he spread his arms on his seat. "All of us here are very much alive and more or less sane. You are talking to Claude Rose in flesh…. Though I'm currently under identity of Sterling Cole."

Junior furrowed his eyebrows, as if on cue, the twins beside him also prepared themselves should things went south (again).

Claude then sighed as he hunched over. "Look, Junior. You are not in shape to start another conflict here, and those two cuties next to you are not looking too hot either. I just want to talk."

Junior could not deny the young man's point, but he still wanted to make sure. "...Prove it that you are Claude Rose."

Few seconds later, with another breath, Claude leaned back on his seat. Then, the lights in the room began to flicker; Junior and the twins jumped slightly when the small lamp post on the desk suddenly short-circuited in sparks. The three also looked back at Claude, whose thumb and index finger were generating an electric current.

"Alright, okay, you win." Junior prompted Claude to stop, and the situation in the room went back to normal. He sighed as he ran his hand on his face. "Good god...Last time I heard, you're dead."

In return, Claude merely scoffed. "...The reports about my death has been _dearly_ exaggerated."

"Huh…" Junior kept staring at Claude. "...Then, what about your looks? Explain to me, o' wise one." he said with his hands gesturing at the young man.

"That…. I'm not sure myself. As far as I remember, everything went black when I was in the middle of fighting grimm, and by the time I opened my eyes, _poof_ , twenty years had passed." he gestured with his hands to emphasize his point.

"...I would've called bullshit on that one, but you know what? I honestly don't care anymore. So I'll believe you for now." Junior said with resigned tone. "...So, what's your business? I doubt you came and helped me out just to catch up."

"Yeah… First of all, the girl that wrecked your place, can you let her off the hook?" Claude began.

Junior's eyes narrowed at the request. "...And why should I do that?" his sentiment was shared by the twins beside him, judging by the disapproving looks in their eyes.

"Well, first of all… Let's say that they are technically, kind of my family." Claude reasoned. "In fact, think of it as a favour your family owe me back in Mistral."

Junior's face clearly said that he did not like the deal _at all_. However, he could not just forget everything that had happened between him, his family, and team CBPR back in Mistral. Few minutes of thinking later, the club owner finally sighed in resignation. "...Fine. I'll overlook this… _For once._ " he said the last two words with heavier tone to emphasize his own point, and Claude nodded in acceptance.

Junior then relaxed his features. "Well, you said 'first of all', so I take there's another thing you want?" however, when Claude opened his mouth, Junior suddenly interrupted by holding his hand up. "Actually, stop. No need to tell me." He then ran his hand over his face once again. _Seriously, this is not my night_. "...Roman Torchwick, am I right?"

At the name of his old partner, Claude's expression hardened as he leaned forward on his seat, his silver eyes staring right at Junior's gray ones. "Tell me everything you know about him."

* * *

 **Please review! No flame!**


	4. Beacon Initiation (I)

**RWBY: The Redeemer**

 **Disclaimer: RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth and Monty Oum.**

* * *

 **Beta-read by Starlight's Poet**

 **Chapter 3: Beacon Initiation (I)**

Claude Rose ran on the streets of Vale Commercial District after his visit at Junior's Club for obtaining information. After some 'persuasions' from Claude's part, Junior Xiong had told him Roman's exploits for the past 20 years.

The final piece of information was that Roman actually just paid the club a visit to hire some of Junior's own subordinates, not long before Claude came. Looking at Roman's past history, as well as the number of _armed_ men he hired, it was safe to conclude that Roman was planning another heist on some Dust Shop.

It was already rather late at night, and very few stores and shops remained operating at such hour. Few prodings later, there was actually one more Dust shop that was still operating, and his mind began to race when he learned the name of the shop as 'From Dust till Dawn', which was located at few blocks away towards the north east of Commercial District.

It was the very same place that Ruby was heading. Without another word, Claude dashed out from Junior's club and began heading towards the location, hoping that he would still make it in time.

In the midst of running, jumping, even scaling some buildings and other structures to shorten his distance via his Semblance; Claude's mind drifted to two people in particular; his old partner, and his niece. _"Rome… Ruby…"_

oXo

Roman Torchwick had a list in his head, which he named 'Top Shittiest Moments'. As the name suggested, the list contained the unfortunate things that had befallen Roman ever since he left his old academy. Dwelling into the entire list would take forever, but there were few recent moments that managed to get spots on the list for the past few months.

One of the latest 'shittiest moments' was, encountering a pyromaniac, femme fatale that could not handle rejection; then forced to join her and her cohorts in some dodgy campaign against Vale… And/or perhaps more, judging by the task he had been assigned for.

Here he was, robbing the only Dust Shop that was still operating at this late at night, ran by some poor old man; with some goons he hired (with pretty amount of lien) from a certain acquaintance beforehand. During the robbing phase, Roman simply kept his eyes on surroundings, especially the shop owner _and_ his goons, making sure that his current heist would finish without any incident.

It was not like he had any pity towards the owner; sure he had no problems in stealing and robbing people, sure he had no qualms of hurting people if he got something in return, but the quota his new employer/business associate had set for him had become ridiculous.

Just when Roman thought that he could have a nice and simple night, he found another event that landed a spot on his Top Shittiest Moments.

Some Red Riding Hood was browsing at the books corner, and began kicking his goon's asses left and right, until she crashed out of the shop when dispatching another man - _a huntress in training, and a skilled one to boot despite her young age._

The first thing that Roman registered in his mind was the huge mechanical scythe that the girl was sporting. As a matter of fact, however, some people playing hero to interfere with his job, was not enough for Roman to classify it as a shitty moment; what made him believed that his list just gained another one, was when the girl's hood fell off and revealed her face.

Roman thought for a second that he was looking at a ghost - black hair with red accents, fair skin and a pair of silver eyes. No, she looked way too young to be _her_ ; and Roman remembered _that woman_ never used a scythe, especially one with that size. It was not that hard to put the pieces together, and when his mind arrived at a conclusion, Roman took a long drag from his tobacco and breathed out the smoke in exasperation - it was as if karma and his past were coming to haunt him.

Roman then reluctantly ordered the rest of his goons to gang up on the girl, and for some reason, he was not surprised when he found the goons were no match to the young girl in red before him. Looking at the last goon knocked out near his feet, he shook his head and sighed in resignation. "You were worth every cent... Truly, you were." Roman said mockingly to the unconscious goon.

Roman then turned his sight at the young girl - seriously, the resemblance was uncanny that it unnerved him. He looked back to the shop and saw the owner have called the police over the telephone.

He turned his gaze back at the girl in red - he probably could make a quick work on her, but did not see any point to; he could no longer pull out his heist without any extra hands. Not to mention, those silver eyes brought up some unpleasant memories; he would rather not dealing with her, at least not for any time soon.

With the next course of action planned in mind, Roman flashed a smug smirk as he addressed the girl. "Well… _Red_ , I think we can all say it's been an eventful evening. And as much as I'd love to stick around, I'm afraid this is where we part ways."

 _Let's see how she reacted to this_ ; Roman decided to make a gamble as he pointed his cane weapon - Melodic Cudgel, at 'Red'. The base end of the cane raised an aiming reticle, and from the muzzle came a fiery projectile being fired at the girl.

The girl used her scythe to block the projectile, preventing her from taking a direct hit, but the impact of the ensuing explosion was still enough to knock her back few feet away. Using the explosion as his cover, Roman quickly made a run towards a nearby building across the street, the ladder on the wall, to be precise.

From what he had agreed with his benefactor, there was a contingency should things went awry; all he was told was to find a high ground for an extraction. Roman could only hope that his benefactor was aware that the operation had been busted. He ran towards the other edge of the roof, only to heard someone else arrived at the rooftop.

"Hey!"

Hearing the voice of a young girl shouting at him, it was easy for Roman to tell who it was. "Persistent…"

Roman growled as his mind drifted back to a pair of silver eyes.

 _Just like her mother._

Fortunately for Roman, his evac had also arrived - in a form of a bullhead hovering to the sky above him. Wasting no time to get on board, Roman turned to look at the Red Riding Hood; his cane could not fire the same round like earlier, thus he fished out a red crystal from his pocket.

" _This won't kill her…. I think."_ Roman thought then he grinned at the girl. "...End of the line, Red!" he then tossed the red crystal - Fire Dust near the girl's feet, and fired another round from his Melodic Cudgel.

BOOM!

As soon as the bullet hit the Dust, an explosion occurred and engulfed the spot where the girl in red was standing on. However, when the smoke settled, Roman clicked his tongue as another player had arrived on the rooftop, protecting the girl in the process with some kind of energy shield.

"...The night is just getting better and better!" Roman spat out under his breath sarcastically, as he narrowed his eyes at the sight of Glynda Goodwitch.

With a flourish of her riding crop, Glynda sent some Dust rounds flying and exploding at the aircraft, the shock caused Roman to stumble on his feet inside the aircraft. Roman knew that he was outmatched, thus he turned to the cockpit and called at his 'associate' piloting the craft. "We got a huntress!"

The pilot - a woman in red dress stood up from her seat, leaving Roman to take control of the ship, to respond to Glynda's continuous assault.

The battle between two women ensued, as Roman was struggling to maintain altitude and trying to get the aircraft to fly away from the scene. Seeing a rain of ice from dark clouds, with one shard almost pierced his head; a massive javelin made out of debris via telekinetic Semblance, that almost pierced through the entire aircraft if not for Roman's quick reaction; and fire dancing around in the sky; made Roman silently chuckled - he kind of missed seeing the witch's power at work.

In the end, his female ally managed to create an opening for him to take off, finally able to leave the scene of the crime. On his way back to his base, Roman completely missed another person who just ran on the street below the bullhead.

When Claude arrived at the front of From Dust Till Dawn, he found a few police cars were surrounding the place. The officers were questioning the shop owner, arresting the men in suits who were collaborating with Roman, and investigating the area in search for leads.

However, Claude stopped searching when his eyes landed on Ruby who was being escorted by Glynda into one of the patrol cars. The young girl's expression was looking dejected, at least her hands were not in cuffs, while the latter's was as stern as ever.

"Ruby!" Claude called out as he approached, causing the two females to turn at him. When Claude's eyes met Glynda's, he nodded at her. "...Professor Goodwitch." he said with polite tone - it was part of his ruse, after all.

"Sterling?" Ruby did not expect to see her latest acquaintance. "...What are you doing here?"

"I saw several police cars ran past me and I decided to go have a look." Claude looked around and his burrows furrowed slightly. "...What happened here? And where's your sister?"

"Oh, I actually asked Yang to drop me off here… And some time after that, the store was being robbed..." Ruby replied, but she was interrupted by Glynda.

"This young lady decided to recklessly take matters into her own hands." Glynda interjected. "...She was lucky that I was happened to be around." she narrowed her eyes lightly at Ruby, who shrunk under the glare.

"I see…" Claude gazed at Ruby with small approval in his eyes. In honesty, he should have seen it coming, considering who her mother was. "...Is she in any sort of trouble?"

"In a sense, yes; but otherwise, she's fine." Glynda replied. "I'm… simply taking her for further questioning."

Claude narrowed his eyes slightly at Glynda, feeling that there was something else behind her words. "...Speaking of the case, what about the perpetrator of this... robbery?"

"Escaped, unfortunately. It appears that he has some allies to back him up." Glynda replied again, as she fixed her glasses. "Come to think of it, I believe you should come along as well, Mr. Cole. There might be something you'd like to learn."

Claude blinked at the summon, and he noticed that Ruby was giving him a questioning glance. Shrugging at her, Claude then nodded at the blonde lady. "...Alright, lead the way."

Thus, Claude, Ruby and Glynda hopped into the car and drove away into the night.

* * *

Claude was watching Ruby being roasted by Glynda inside a private room of Vale Police Department, from the neighbouring sound-proof room that was bordered by a wall and a two-way mirror.

As Claude was listening to the conversation inside the room next door through tapping device, the door to his own room was opened, revealing Ozpin with his signature cup of hot cocoa in hand. The older man nodded at Claude, who returned the gesture, and stood next to him, watching the 'lecturing'.

Few seconds later, Claude began to speak. "Glynda is still a hard-ass as ever." he said with small amusement. "...Not that I don't understand her point, though."

Ozpin raised his eyebrows slightly at Claude, somehow finding something behind what he said. More importantly, when Ozpin noticed Claude's eyes on the young girl in the room next door, he could not help but to let his own amusement being shown. "You only met young Ruby around yesterday, and you are already overprotective on her?"

Claude only glanced at Ozpin briefly before he scoffed. "Hardly. I'm actually already seeing this kind of thing coming from her." his eyes gained a slightly fond look at his niece.

Ozpin smiled knowingly and decided to move the subject along. He tapped on his scroll and showed its screen playing a video at Claude. "This is a footage from the road security camera around the crime-scene."

Claude looked at the screen to watch the recording of Ruby easily taking down a bunch of goons in suits. He hummed slightly while raising his eyebrows at the performance; that was impressive for a 15 year-old. "Well, damn… I guess Qrow does have a knack in teaching in combat school, after all." Claude commented.

"I believe the young lady's talent also played factor in her development, Mr. Rose." Ozpin put in his two cents. "...You of all people should know that."

Claude only huffed with a dry look at Ozpin. The headmaster then chuckled lightly before he walked towards the table in the room; the table was filled with some cookies and few drinks to accommodate staff and officers in late shifts.

Ozpin prepared a plate of cookies and a glass of milk, then he headed back towards the door with the treats on his hands. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have few things to discuss with your niece." he said before he finally left the room.

Claude then watched the conversation unfold as Ozpin joined the conversation with Ruby, showing various reactions at the interaction.

He could not help but chuckle at the sight of Ruby stuffing her face with cookies like a squirrel.

"Heh…. 'Dusty old crow'..." Claude also snorted and almost laughed when Ozpin was making remarks about Qrow.

Interesting and amusing words and banters were exchanged, until Claude's smile faded away when he saw Ozpin leaning in, asking Ruby if she knew who he was. However, Claude's eyes widened slightly when Ozpin offered Ruby an enrolment into Beacon Academy, and the girl accepted with enthusiast.

oXo

Ruby was finally released and allowed to go home. Ozpin and Glynda returned to the room where Claude was waiting for him - arms folded and his expression demanded no games.

"So…" Ozpin decided to approach the topic. "...Anything you'd like to say, Mr. Rose?"

Claude took a breath before speaking. "Okay, I don't know what you're playing at, but don't you think it's a bit too soon for her to attend Beacon?" he said while furrowing his eyebrows.

Glynda whispered to Ozpin, albeit her voice was still audible enough for everyone in the room to hear. "...I told you he won't be too thrilled about this."

Ignoring his right-hand woman's comment, Ozpin stood his ground as he took a sip from his mug. "We are running out of time, Claude; and we will need every capable hands when _that_ day comes."

"...By recruiting a 15 year-old?" Claude immediately replied. "She's still too young to get involved in this!"

"And I told you we have no luxury to go at our own pace." Ozpin replied with heavier, yet calm tone. "The White Fang are becoming more radical in their campaign, the Fall Maiden's power had fallen into enemy's hand, Roman Torchwick might be affiliated with our very enemy as we speak... And all of that are probably just the tip of the iceberg."

Claude's expression went even sourer at the mentioning of his old partner.

At the sight of Claude's sombre mood, Ozpin's expression softened slightly. "I don't like involving children in this either, believe me. But your shared lineage with Ruby will beckon her to join the fight sooner or later. We might as well get her ready while we still have the momentum."

Claude closed his eyes in contemplation, mulling over Ozpin's argument. Few seconds later, Claude sighed as he opened his eyes. "We still have around few weeks before the initiation, right?"

"We do need to finalise Ms. Rose's paperwork." Glynda interjected.

Taking the words as the sign that they still had time, Claude then met his eyes with Ozpin's. "Okay, Oz. I'll go along with your plans…. But under one condition…. Or more, depending on how things go from here."

Ozpin then grew a small smile at Claude's proposition. "I thought you'd never ask, Mr. Rose."

It was on the very next day, where Claude Rose and Peter Port were standing on top of Beacon Cliff, overlooking Emerald Forest, a location which could be viewed as, 'Beacon Academy's giant backyard'; both of them were also equipped with their own combat-gears.

"Sir, are you sure about this?" Peter turned to his leader.

"Yep. We need to prepare the venue for the initiation, after all. Ozpin has given me the green light to do this quick operation." Claude said as he was inspecting the edge of his Shatter Storm, making sure that his weapon was in tip-top form, before he glanced at Peter. "...Rather, are you sure you want to join? Don't you and Barty have your own job and preparation to do for the new school term?"

In return, Peter only smiled behind his mustache. "Our work is mostly done, and the rest can wait. Both I and Barty are actually looking forward to work with you again, Claude." he said as he hefted his rifle-axe hybrid on his shoulder.

Claude stared at Peter for few seconds before he chuckled. "Yeah… Just like the old times, isn't it?" he then smiled. "...Thanks, pops."

Peter nodded at the gratitude and the two shared a quick fist-bump. Claude then sheathed his sword into his shield as he did one more stretch. "Well… We just need to wait for one more person, and we're good to go."

"One more person…? It's not Barty, I take? I remember you told him to stay behind." Peter asked.

"Oh, no. Barty will still be our rear support for this, I'm talking about Qrow; I just messaged him last night after I sealed the deal with Oz, so… I think he should've arrived… Anytime by now?"

"...What's up, you two."

"Sunnuva-!" A sudden voice made Claude jumped as the two huntsmen turned their heads to see Qrow Branwen standing before them. "Qrow! Sheesh, man, you scared the crap outta me!" Claude scolded as he took a quick breath to calm himself down. "...Where the hell did you come from?" he honestly could not sense any human presence at all, until Qrow letting himself known.

"I have my ways." Qrow only chuckled and gave a knowing smirk as he took a quick sip from his flask. "So, what are you calling me for again?"

With another breath Claude decided to focus on the matter and calmed down. "Basically, we are going on a hunt. Slaughter as many grimm in Emerald Forest as possible until sun down."

Qrow stared at Claude for a second before he rubbed the back of his head. "...Okay, not that I mind too much, but what's with the sudden occasion?"

"Did you get the word from Oz that your niece - _both_ of your nieces are going to attend Beacon?" Claude asked first in return.

"...Uh-huh."

"Well, I basically made a deal with Ozpin regarding the initiation, and following the said deal, I'm going to make this big-ass initiation venue here…" Claude gestured at the forest below. "...To be as student-friendly as possible by the day of the test; hence the mission we are having now."

"Okay, but if there's no grimm, the initiation won't be much of a test, will it?" Qrow asked back. "...Zapper, are you trying to make the test easier for Ruby and Yang?"

"Oh, dear me, no." Claude replied while putting his hand on his chest playfully. "...It's kind of the opposite, actually. I just want to make sure that there will be no grimm interfering when I assess the girls."

"So you're participating in initiation, then? Okay, I think I'm catching your drift." Qrow asked, his eyes started to gain some understanding, then he looked around. "By the way, where's Barty?"

"Barty? He's not joining us here." Claude replied. "No offence to the guy, but we can't burn down the test venue, can we?"

Qrow then remembered Barty's choice of weapon and the fact that they were going into trees. "...Oh. Right." However, he suddenly remembered something else as he eyed Claude warily. "One more thing, are you sure you want me to tag along? You do know that my Semblance…"

"Alright, stop right there." Claude held his hand up, interrupting Qrow. "I honestly still don't know what your Semblance actually is, but I… don't really buy about what you call it."

Qrow blinked at Claude before he grew a small smile. "...Is it coming from you alone, or is it due to your baby sister's influence?"

"A lil' bit of both." Claude shrugged, then his eyes grew a slight far-away look. "...Although I'd like to believe that I'm leaning more towards the latter."

Few seconds later, Qrow sighed as his smile grew. "...Don't mind if I do, then."

"Glad to have you on board, buddy." Claude returned and the two shared a fist-bump as well. "...So, with that out of the way, anymore question?" Then, with a clap of his hands, Claude stared at both Qrow and Peter, and when there were no words coming from them, Claude continued. "Good! Now, as I was saying; me, Peter and Qrow will hunt down as many grimm as we can take in Emerald Forest until the sun is low. Barty will be our eyes and ears from the sky." Claude then fished out an ear-piece that was wirelessly connected to his scroll. "...Barty, do you copy? You know what to do?"

[Loud and clear, leader! The cameras on the surveillance drones in the air are working without problem as well. We are good to go.]

Claude then glanced again at Qrow and Peter, who just put on their communication ear-piece and nodded to him; then he slammed his right fist onto his left palm as he grinned at the forest. "Alright, boys! You know the drill; eyes and ears open, kick some ass, keep cool, and look completely dope while doing it! Let's go!"

[Alright, everyone! I detected movements of several hostiles around 1 mile to your north-west! Threat level B-rank! Happy hunting!]

With Barty's intel, Claude then ran and jumped off the cliff towards the mass of trees below, followed by exasperated-looking Peter and amused-looking Qrow.

oXo

Time flew by, after further discussion about Claude's terms and conditions with Ozpin and Glynda, finishing the last-minute paperworks of Ruby's enrolment to Beacon, as well as final preparations for the initiation; it was finally the day of the prospective first-year students arriving at Beacon.

Yawning as he walked through the corridor, Claude - clad in formal suit per Glynda's insistence, entered to the teacher's office of Beacon Academy for morning sortie.

"Good morning, y'all!"

Upon entering the room, he was greeted by Glynda, Barty, Peter, and what appeared to be an old woman in white coat, with greyish pink hair. The said old woman was drinking a cup of tea on her seat, and when her eyes met with Claude's silver orbs, she involuntarily gasped as she dropped her cup.

Glynda, Barty and Peter, who were minding their own business, turned their heads when they heard the sound of a cup clattering, but their expression softened in understanding, even Glynda dutifully cleaned up the mess that accidentally occurred.

Claude was also looking at the stunned old lady, his eyes blinked as he was not sure how to approach the old woman who was now walking towards him with disbelief look.

"Claude Rose…? Is that you?" the woman asked as soon as she was within arm's length.

At the voice, Claude blinked again at the wrinkled face until his eyes widened in realisation. "...Professor Thumbelina Peach?"

"Oh, dear…." the old woman - Professor Peach put her hand over her mouth while the other hand was clutching her chest; her eyes began to water. "Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear! Yes, it's me! My word, Claude…. You're back!"

The older woman suddenly enveloped Claude into a hug, a gesture that the latter returned wholeheartedly. "Yeah, it's good to be back, Professor Peach." he smiled as he softly patted the old lady's back.

When the two broke off the hug, Claude asked. "So you are still teaching science at Beacon?"

"As well as biology, young man." Peach replied with surprising vigor despite her old age. "But… But what happened to you? You've been gone for over 20 years, yet you still look the same."

"Unfortunately…" Barty and Peter also had joined the conversation as soon as the question was raised. "...That is something that nobody has yet to figure out." the history teacher elaborated.

"I see…" Peach looked dejected for a second before her expression brightened up again. "...But we can think about that later. I'm more curious of what you are doing here."

The three members of CBPR chuckled in amusement at the old lady's demeanor. "Simply put, Ozpin offered me a teaching position here." the leader replied.

Peach offered a mock gasp while her face turned mortified with playful look remained in her eyes. "...Good lord! Has Ozpin gone mad?!What would the student become if Claude is to teach them?" she turned at Barty and Peter, who were doing their best to hold down their laughter.

Even Glynda was clearly amused, as she listened from the other corner of the room.

"Wow, I can definitely feel your faith in me, Professor Peach." Claude dryly retorted, before he sighed in defeat. "...But if it makes you feel better, I'm currently still a teacher in training. Oh, another thing; my name here is Sterling Cole. I hope you don't mind calling me that, at least in public."

"Noted." Peach smiled. "So, teacher in training, eh? That honestly did not do much in dissuading my fears, by the way."

"...Ouch." Claude gave a dry glare.

"But I think you'll do fine if given time." Peach laughed as she patted Claude's shoulder. "...So I'll be looking forward to work with you, Mr. Cole."

"Likewise." Claude finally smiled in return.

Few seconds later, Peach's eyes scrunched up when she took a closer look at Claude's state of dress. While he was clad in formal suit, he was not exactly a tidy one when it came to wearing appropriate dress-code. It was proven at the fact that Claude's tie was lose around his neck, with his shirt was not fully buttoned up either.

With a pout, Peach wordlessly reached out and fixed Claude's suit, buttoned up his shirt, and tightened the tie around his neck much to his chagrin. "Err… Peach…?" Claude asked with slightly strangled voice.

"You are going to set a good example to your prospective students, Mr. Cole; and your appearance will serve as a good start." Peach said with stern tone as she nodded at her handiwork. "...Now, don't you even think of loosening that tie. Because you bet that I _and_ Glynda will see it through."

Feeling discomfort around his neck, Claude turned to see Glynda was giving him a smug smirk. Returning her smirk with a dry glare, Claude then turned to his teammates. "Um, Barty? Peter? Little help?"

"I'm sorry, _Sterling_. But I have to admit that Professor Peach has a point." Barty said as he fixed up his glasses while sporting an amused smile.

Claude gave a betrayed look at the historian before he turned hopefully at Peter, who only smiled knowingly.

"...You look dashing, _Mr. Cole_." those words alone was enough to tell Claude that the grimm studies teacher had no intention of siding with him.

"...Fucking traitors, both of you." Claude said while glaring at Barty and Peter, who simply grinned knowingly at their leader.

"Language, young man!" Peach immediately slapped on Claude's rear, eliciting a small yelp from the latter.

"Now, now..." However, before the things could have escalated further, Glynda approached to intervene with the group. "The rest of the staff and headmaster will arrive here soon enough. Just take it easy for now because we have a long day waiting ahead." then she turned sharply to glare at Claude. "...And please keep up with that look, Mr. Cole; at least until the end of opening ceremony."

Claude only groaned and grumbled into a random seat he picked, as the occupants of the room wrapped up the conversation.

oXo

Claude was now standing at the front courtyard of the Beacon Academy, overseeing students - old and new, as well as teachers, walking by; with tugging on his collar to give his neck some room every now and then.

To pass time and distract himself, Claude observed and took in as many information he could get from the students. He had to admit, the technology had truly advanced for the past 20 years that he could not really tell what sorts of weapons and gadgets the students were bringing by one glance alone.

He also saw some of the more… 'interesting' fellows. He noted there was quite a unique pair - a boy and a girl, latter was talking about almost anything like a machine gun, while the former simply listened without giving much reaction, all cool and collected 24/7.

There was also a young woman with vibrant red hair tied up in ponytail, her outfit was pretty much a set of light armour in bronze and light-brown colour. Claude recalled seeing her face in news during his past research, but he did not really look into it.

Then, among the students, Claude's eyes finally spotted a couple of familiar faces - Yang and Ruby. From the looks alone, Claude could tell that the sight of Beacon Academy alone worked wonders on them.

Then, the younger sister, Ruby's eyes suddenly sparkled at the sights of gadgets and weapons of other students around. Claude could not really make out the words she said from where he stood, but the sight of the young girl swooning over weapons brought back past memories.

 _Oh….! Look, look! That guy has a great sword! And that girl over there has a gun attached on her spear!_

The image of Ruby was overlapped by the image of a similar girl in white hooded cloak getting excited and fired up over weapons, until a hand grabbed her hood to keep her in place, much to her disappointment.

"Easy there, little sister… They're just weapons."

Claude returned to reality and he found himself already walking to close the distance between him and the sisters; just when the older one - Yang said those words.

"Just weapons?" Ruby argued. "...They're extension of ourselves, they are part of us! Oh, they're so cool…" she ended with a giddy tone.

"Well, why can't you swoon over your own weapon, then?" Yang retorted. "...Aren't you happy with it?"

"Of course I'm happy with Crescent Rose!" Ruby said in return, brandishing her beloved mechanical scythe to show her point. "...I just really like seeing new ones. It's like meeting new people, but better."

"Ruby…" Yang sighed a little at her younger sister's attitude, but she then playfully pulled Ruby's hood over her face. "Come on, you need to try to make some friends of your own. Give it a try, will ya?"

"But… Why would I need friends when I have you?" Ruby pulled her hood off as she asked her sister with innocent tone.

"Well…." giving a quick, awkward look around, Yang was suddenly surrounded by a group of students. "Actually, my friends are here, gotta go catch up, 'kay? See ya, bye!" she and the group immediately dashed away, leaving Ruby spinning behind.

On that note - in a hurry, Yang had completely missed Claude as she marched past him with the rest of the students.

"Yang, wait! Where are you going!?" Ruby shouted with her vision running around. "Are we supposed to go to our dorms!? Where are the dorms?! Do we even have dorms!?" Once she stopped spinning, she wobbled in her steps as her head was overwhelmed with dizziness. "I don't know what I'm doing…" she mumbled as she stumbled back towards a luggage cart behind.

However, before she could have fallen, a hand shot out to grab hers, preventing her to lose balance. When Ruby's vision returned, she blinked the dizziness away to see a pair of silver eyes staring at her. "...Sterling!" she greeted upon recognising her saviour.

"We meet again, Ruby." Claude smiled and he let go of Ruby's hand. "...So I take your sister just ditched you?"

Ruby pouted cutely as she remembered what Yang had done to her. "Yes, and I can't believe her! Make some friends of my own, she said…"

Claude only chuckled, and he took a breath before speaking to Ruby. "If anything…. Your sister got a point."

Ruby then gave a confused, if not slightly betrayed, look at Claude.

"I'm not saying it's right for her to ditch you here, but she's right about you getting to know new people." Claude explained. "Huntsmen job is not just about fighting and killing monsters and bad guys, Ruby. It's to understand the world around you as well, and that includes people."

"But I'm no good in dealing with strangers, it's just… awkward." Ruby reasoned. "...Not to mention I'm at least two years younger than everyone here." her expression became crestfallen.

"Is that so?" Claude quirked an eyebrow. "I think you're doing fine when we first met."

"Well, it's because Yang and dad were there to back me up, and…" Ruby gave a small smile. "...And you seem nice, and you're good with weapons! So I'd say you're pretty cool in my book."

"Thank you." Claude smiled at the compliment. "...But let's see if you can still see me as 'cool in your book' once the school starts." he grinned.

There was a hint of fierceness in Claude's expression when he said the last line, and Ruby began to question if the man before her was actually 'cool'.

However, her musing was interrupted at a foreign female voice. "Would you please move? You two are blocking the way."

Both silver eyes blinked and turned to see a pale-skinned young girl with pale blue eyes and long white hair pulled back into an off-center bun tail on the right side, and pinned with an icicle shaped tiara. She also wore a thigh-length strapless dress with a faint color gradation from white to pale blue at the hem. A small piece of black lace sat in the front of her neckline and the hem of the dress was scalloped and stitched to resemble snowflakes, with layers of white tulle under the skirt. Over this she wore a bell sleeved bolero with the same color gradation as her dress from shoulder to wrist, lined in red and with a ruffled collar. On the back of the bolero was a crest that resembled a snowflake.

Claude stared at the princessy-looking girl for a second, who was standing rather impatiently, and his eyes trailed off to the luggage cart behind Ruby. Putting the two and two together, he knew what the new girl was insinuating. "Oh, right. Sorry about that."

Claude, followed by Ruby, stepped out of the way to allow the white-haired girl to strode towards few suitcases on the cart. While she was looking over the contents, her blue eyes glanced at Ruby. "...Aren't you a little too young to be attending Beacon?" she suddenly asked with somewhat accusing tone.

Like a deer caught in a headlights, Ruby tensed up as she immediately went panic at the question. "Well, I…"

However, before Ruby could have said what she wanted to say, the girl began ranting in haughty tone. "You should know that this isn't your ordinary combat school. There's no practice or spars, we're here to fight _monsters_! So-!"

"Alright, I believe that would be enough."

The girl's ranting stopped when she felt a hand was placed on her shoulder. She turned around to lightly glare at Claude, clearly showing that she did not appreciate the interruption.

"Look, princess. If you have time to tell other people off, you definitely have enough time to put your luggage and go to the amphitheater. The opening ceremony will start soon enough." To be honest, Claude did not really like the way the girl behaved, she was acting as if she knew everything - he had encountered this kind of girl, and those types were usually the ones to bite the dust early when they were sent out to the field.

"How dare you!" the girl lashed out, brushing Claude's hand off her. "Do you even know who you're talking to?!"

Claude narrowed his eyes and was about to retort, yet another new voice joined in. "...Weiss Schnee, heiress of the Schnee Dust Company, one of the largest producers of energy propellant in the world."

The trio turned to see a girl dressed in black and white - she had a fair skin and a pair of amber eyes with long, black hair tied with a ribbon with big bow on top of her head. She wore a black buttoned vest with coattails and a single silver button on the front. Underneath this was a white, sleeveless, high necked, crop undershirt and white shorts with a zipper on the front of each leg, emblazoned with a logo of oriental style zipper manufacturer. She was also wearing black low-heeled boots and full stockings with a color gradation of black to purple at her ankles.

The said girl in black was walking while giving a nonchalant glance at the girl in white - Weiss, whom seemed to have a mood improvement ever so slightly,. "Thank you! At least there is some recognition." she smiled smugly.

"...The same company that is infamous for its controversial labour forces and questionable business partners."

And with one last remark from the girl in black, Weiss' mood dropped down. "Wha-! How dare-! The nerve of… Ugh!" she was seething - angry enough that she was lost for words. She then turned her anger at the man who talked back to her earlier. "...Who are you, anyway!?"

Claude sighed, and he revealed his staff/name-tag from inside his suit jacket. "Your teacher, should you make it out of the initiation." He gave a small, smug smile when he saw Weiss' wide eyes. "...Sterling Cole, at your service. And as I told you before, if you have time to vent and tell people off, you definitely have time to join your peers at amphitheater."

Weiss growled as her face reddened in anger and embarrassment, but thankfully, she knew better than picking a fight with a teacher on the _first day_. Thus she huffed out and angrily stomped away, leaving her own staff to carry her luggage.

Seeing the heiress got further away, Claude sighed. "...Well, that could have gone better."

Ruby chuckled as she also breathed out in relief. "Yeah, and it's only the first day…" she then recalled there was another girl who joined the talk, she turned around only to find the girl in black had also walked away.

Unknown to Ruby, Claude was eyeing at the retreating form of the said girl, and he could have sworn that the black bow on top of her head just _twitched_. However, he chose to pass it off as the breeze playing tricks.

Seeing Ruby's dejected expression, Claude placed his hand softly on her shoulder, receiving a look. "You know, it might be too late for me to say this, but… Welcome to Beacon."

Ruby's face cheered up slightly, and suddenly another voice was heard yet again. "Um, excuse me, sir…"

Claude and Ruby turned to see a tall teenage boy with dark-blue eyes that are emphasized by his short blond hair messily layered on his head with the right side of his hair nearing his right eye and the left side swept back. He is quite toned, having strong muscles in his arms, shoulders and upper chest. He wears a white diamond-shaped chestplate cut off above his lower abdomen and white spaulders with rerebraces set under them.

"Yes, can I help you?" Claude asked when he found that the young man was addressing him. On that note, for some reason, Claude found his face _familiar_.

"Yeah, I kind of don't know my way around here…. I heard you said about amphitheatre, where is it again?"

Claude then checked the time on his scroll, and he smiled. "Well, lucky you. I'm about to head there myself. Come on you two, follow me." he gestured both Ruby and the man and walked off.

* * *

As the two students followed him, Ruby was the first to start another conversation. "Say… Aren't you the guy who threw up on the ship?" she said to the young boy, whom groaned in return.

"Okay, look; let me tell you first that motion-sickness is a lot more common than people let on."

Ruby then held her hands defensively while giving apologetic smile. "Okay, I'm sorry. But still, you were very impressionable with that motion-sickness of yours."

"Well, I-... You know what, nevermind…" the boy decided to drop the topic of his motion-sickness altogether. "...Anyway, my name is Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, rolls of the tongue - ladies love it." he introduced himself with confident tone.

"Do they…?" Ruby said with skeptic tone. "...I'm Ruby Rose, by the way. Nice to meet you." the two then shared a handshake.

Ruby and Jaune then found Claude slowed down his walk so he was now between them. His eyes were honing on the boy. For some reason, the way Jaune introduced himself to his niece, his tone sounded… somehow flirty, and Claude did not like that.

Not to mention the surname – Arc; now Claude knew why he felt he had seen Jaune's face somewhere.

In any case, Claude decided to ignore that one and spoke to the boy. "Sterling Cole, at your service, and welcome to Beacon." he offered his own hand and Jaune shook it. "So… you are from _that_ Arc family?"

"You know about my family?" Jaune's eyes gained a spark of interest.

"Can't say I don't." Claude replied with a shrug. "...Especially when you have a history nerd for a friend." his mind was having an image of a certain history teacher. "Another thing, actually; while you're not wrong about the motion-sickness, you'd better do something about it. Because once you are a huntsman, there will be a lot of travelling in airships. Can't have you to go sick when you're about to fight a bunch of grimm and monsters, can we?"

"Heheh… Yeah, I'll figure something out." Jaune laughed nervously while scratching the back of his head.

"Hey, what's this about Arc?" Ruby caught up with curiosity.

"Simply put, vomit boy's ancestors were heroes, way back during the great war." Claude jerked his thumb at Jaune, who was baffled at his new nickname, but decided to keep quiet since he was dealing with a teacher.

"Oh…." Ruby's eyes were glittering at Jaune. "That's so cool! Are your parents huntsmen and huntresses!?"

"My father was, sort of, as far as I know. My mother… I think? While I did hear a lot of stories about my dad, I didn't hear a lot about my mom… But I'm pretty sure she was also a huntress, although she has chosen to retire." Jaune ended with a shrug. "As for my sisters, they're not huntresses, but some of them can hold their own in a fight."

"Oh…." Ruby muttered in comprehension. "Well, my families are huntsmen too. My father and uncle are huntsmen teaching at my previous school, my older sister is studying to be a huntress here, and my mom…" Ruby's eyes dimmed slightly. "...Was a huntress as well!" she pushed her smile through, refusing to ruin the good mood.

Jaune blinked at the pause, and nervously replied. "'Was'...? So she retired as well?"

The seemingly innocent question from the blonde boy only made Ruby's expression went bitter, and before any words could have spoken, Claude placed his hand on Jaune, whom turn to see the older teen shook his head without a word.

Thankfully, Jaune blinked and he immediately got the cue. "Um… Sorry, forget that I asked." he said while looking downcast.

"...It's okay." Ruby quickly put up a smile, appreciating Jaune's sentiment. Then, to keep the mood bright, she decided just to change the subject. "So… I got this thing." she brandished her Crescent Rose - the blade dug into the cemented pathway.

"Whoa! Is that - is that a scythe?! It's huge!"

Jaune was surprised, as well as amazed at the sheer size of the scythe; while Claude giggled in amusement. It was natural for Ruby to show off her weapon to him during their talk on the previous night, since he brought up the topic himself, but now? It was just out of the blue.

"Ruby, if showing off your weapon is your way of making first impression, we really need to talk about your social skills."

"My social life is work in progress and already good enough, thank you very much." Ruby pouted at Claude before she smiled at Jaune's reaction. "...And yes, it's a scythe, as well as customizable high-impact sniper rifle!"

At the description, Jaune only gave a confused look. "...A what?"

"...It's also a gun." Claude dutifully provided, and Ruby cocked her rifle to emphasize the point.

"...Oh, okay! That's cool!" Jaune responded with an awkward grin.

Before the situation could have gone more awkward itself, Ruby pressed on with curiosity in her eyes. "So…. What do _you_ have?"

Jaune then realised that it was kind of _his_ turn to show his card. Quickly looking over himself, then he brandished his sword out of its sheath. "Uh, well, I got this sword!"

"Oooh….!" Ruby and Claude observed the blade with keen eyes. While the former did not bother to hide her reaction, the latter did not say anything as he simply stared at the weapon with concealed nostalgia in his silver eyes. Additionally, he was also (still) impressed; the blade was well-smithed and refined, and the looks alone was enough to tell that the blade had seen countless battlefield and survived until this day.

 _Twenty years had past and Crocea Mors still looks the same as ever_.

Satisfied at the girl's reaction, Jaune smiled proudly and he held up the scabbard, which extended and transformed into a shield. "Yeah, and I got this shield too!"

Claude actually hummed at the sight - a sword and shield, the combination was similar to his Shatter Storm. "So…. What do they do?" he asked out of curiosity.

Jaune found himself fumbling, knowing that his weapon was nothing as fancy as Ruby's scythe. "Well… The shield shrinks into a scabbard, so if I got tired carrying it around, I can just… put it away." he said while demonstrating its 'features'.

Ruby quirked her eyebrows skeptically. "But… wouldn't it weigh the same?"

"...Yeah, it does." Jaune said dejectedly.

"Hey, don't be so down." Claude interjected, receiving looks from the kids. "...While it may weigh the same, the size alone allows you to carry it easier. Not to mention, smaller size also allows easier and more flexible storage." he smiled knowingly at Ruby. "...Remember my Shatter Storm? I wish my partner had a similar feature as Jauney-boy got here. The weapon's rather as heavy as it looks."

"Oh…" Ruby gained looks of comprehension on her face, after contemplating 'Sterling's' argument. "...I guess you got a point there."

Jaune was more intrigued about Claude's weapon. "...So you are using a sword and shield too?"

Claude nodded with somewhat smug smile, before Ruby interjected. "Well, Sterling's weapon is kind of bigger and heavier than yours, judging from its materials. The weapon seems to have special features as well, but he didn't want to show me when I asked…" Ruby then pouted lightly again at Claude. "...Stingy."

The man himself only shrugged while his smug smile remained, then Ruby huffed and she kept her conversation with Jaune. As the three were approaching their destination, Claude narrowed his eyes at the young teens, particularly at Jaune. His awkward behaviour aside, the way the young boy moved, and carried himself in general, they felt _off_.

To put it simply, while Jaune was physically (barely) fit, Claude could not help but feel that Jaune did not have this air… that even Ruby had - the air that belonged to a fighter, someone who at least had a fair share of combat, training or not. In other words, in Claude's eyes, Jaune looked more like a civilian who happened to carry a weapon.

However, the most defining trait was their _aura_. If Claude focused a bit more, he could see a faint red glow radiating from Ruby's frame, it was the sign that her body was coated in aura - manifestation of one's soul, a life energy that helped not just huntsman, but any other warrior to combat the Creatures of Grimm aside from using Dust.

In case of Jaune, however, his body was not emitting even a drop of aura, which meant his energy had yet to be unlocked from his soul.

 _Strange_ , every huntsman in training should have had their aura unlocked prior enrolling into any huntsman academy. As far as Claude knew, there were two ways of unlocking one's aura. One was via proper training since early days; pushing one's physical body to its limits through sheer discipline could naturally unlock the aura.

The second method was by the help of those who had the knowledge and experience in unlocking aura via a quick incantation; the words chanted could be considered as prayer for one's aura to manifest its energy. While the body still required training, the process was not as strenuous as the first method as long as there was a veteran present to unlock your aura afterwards.

This brought back the case of Jaune Arc - his aura had yet to be unlocked. Did his previous combat school not unlock his aura? Did his father not unlock his aura? Every combat school would always unlock their students' aura at least by the end of the first semester of the first year, and Claude did not believe that _Ashton_ _Arc_ would be irresponsible enough to let his son to attend Beacon without his aura unlocked. What school did Jaune attend before Beacon? Did Jaune attend any combat school at all in the first place?

Then again, recommendation and qualification by a primary combat school was only one of the more 'official' ways to enrol into Beacon. While unconventional, it was still possible to attend Beacon without graduating from any combat school, as long as you had enough skills to support the claims in your transcript. Claude was not foreign to the concept of someone fighting grimm without aura, but such case was unlikely when it came to Jaune.

Something about Jaune Arc smelled fishy, Claude made a mental note to look into his records later.

The trio finally arrived at amphitheatre, where students had already picked spots for themselves before the stage. "Well, here you are. Just pick a spot and wait until the headmaster makes his appearance. I gotta go join the other teachers." Claude addressed Ruby and Jaune before he walked away with a salute.

"Got it! Bye, Sterling!" Ruby waved at the older guy.

"Thanks for the help!" Jaune replied as well.

Claude gave one last smile before he finally left the students to their own devices and headed towards the corner of the hall, where Barty, Peter, Peach and other teachers were standing together.

"Welcome back, Mr. Cole." Peter was the first to greet him, not forgetting to keep up the ruse when they were in public.

"Yeah, I'm back. How long do we have until Ozpin got up to the stage?" Claude took a spot next to Barty.

"You actually just arrived in time, Mr. Cole. Headmaster Ozpin will start his speech in few minutes." Barty fixed his glasses. "...By the way, what do you think of the batch of students you saw outside?"

Claude hummed for few seconds before replying. "Well… there are several that caught my attention."

"I see…" Barty nodded, even Peter also glanced in interest. "...Caught your attention in a good way, or bad way?"

"...A little bit of both." Claude said with a knowing smile. Soon, everyone ceased the talking as soon as they saw Ozpin standing on the stage, with Glynda Goodwitch dutifully standing behind him.

Once the headmaster confirmed that everyone was paying attention to him, he began to talk to his microphone. " I'll... keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills, and when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction." At this point of speech, the students began to whisper among themselves in confusion. "...You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."

And with that line, Ozpin finished his speech and stepped away from the microphone, with Glynda taking the reins. "All of you will gather and rest in the ballroom tonight, please be ready for the initiation tomorrow. You are dismissed."

When everyone in the hall began to fill out the room, Claude chuckled as he walked with his old teammate. "Short, cryptic, and mysterious…. Classic Ozpin."

"I can't disagree to that." Peter put his two-cents, with Barty nodded in agreement.

"Say… Do you think I can get access to the students' records? There's something I'd like to look into." Claude then asked.

"I'm afraid you have to talk to Professor Goodwitch or Ozpin for that matter, but… as long as you don't have any questionable motives, I'm sure they will give you the permission." Peter replied.

"Questionable motives? Please, pops. Who do you think you take me for?" Claude snorted, only to receive deadpanned looks from both Peter and Barty, whom paused on their tracks.

In return, Claude only gave his own exasperated look. "Oh, come on, guys… I can't be that bad!"

Barty and Peter exchanged glances for a second until they relaxed. "I guess he has a point, Peter." the former quipped.

"Thank you!" Claude said with great relief at the history teacher.

Peter sighed eventually. "Just… be careful with the records, the rules of privacy stated that they're supposed to be confidential."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll be extra careful." Claude rolled his eyes and waved at them. "...Just go and finish your paperwork, you pricks. I'll catch you guys later."

Seeing their leader walked off to do his own thing, Barty and Peter finally giggled to themselves. "...It's really good to have him back, isn't it, Barty?"

"Yes it is, pops. Yes, it is…"

* * *

It was late at night, and the new students were preparing their sleeping arrangements before turning in for the night. Ruby and Yang were all clad in their sleep-wears, which basically consisted of a tank-top and pair of pants - more like long sweatpants for Ruby and shorts for Yang. The former was writing something in her sleeping bag, while the latter was lazily lying on her own sleeping bag, eyeing and purring at the sight of several topless male students, until she decided to divert her attention from Jaune wearing a childish onesie.

"What's that?" Yang asked when her eyes looked at the sight of notes Ruby was writing on.

"A letter to the gang back at Signal. I promised all of them that I will give them updates about stuff happening at Beacon."

"Aw, that's so cute!" Yang swooned at her little sister, only to receive a pillow to her face.

"Shut up!" Ruby said in embarrassment. "I didn't get to take my friends here to Beacon. It's weird not to know anyone here… Actually, I did know someone; from Patch, at least." she blinked after a pause.

That got Yang's curiosity. "...Really? Who is it?"

"It' Sterling. He quickly came to my aid as soon as you ditched me." Ruby replied while smiling at the memory.

"Wait, you actually met Sterling? He's really teaching at Beacon?"

"Yes, right after you ditched me, and he's a teacher in training, remember? But…" Ruby suddenly looking dejected again. "Then again, he's a teacher, so I guess he doesn't really count as my friend…"

"What are you saying? Of course he counts as a friend!" Yang argued back. "Think about it! Once Sterling is a real teacher, and you stay friends with him, who knows what kind of favour you can get from him! You can ask him extra credits, even answer keys to the test!"

"Yang, I'm not cheating my way to graduate!" Ruby shot back with indignant tone.

"Okay, okay, I'm just kidding, anyway…" Yang then glanced around. "Going back about making friends, what about Jaune? He's…. Nice! There you go, Sterling _and_ Jaune. Two friends in one day! All you need to do is meet more new people!"

"I guess….?" Ruby conceded, yet still unsure about Yang's words. Then, the sisters noticed someone at the corner of the room, lighting up few candles at a nearby stand to provide light for her reading.

"That girl…" Ruby blinked as she recognised the girl with black hair.

"You know her?" Yang asked as she did not know about the girl in question.

"Well, when I was with Sterling, there's this one girl…" Thus Ruby re-telling her encounter with Weiss Schnee, and the appearance of the girl in black, to her elder sister.

"...Huh, okay." Yang nodded before her eyes lit up. "Then now's your chance!"

"Huh!? Wait, what are you doing!?"

Ruby was suddenly pulled up by Yang, and was forced to follow as the sisters approached the girl who was reading a book.

"Hello~!"

The night went on, as the sisters ended up in an awkward conversation with a girl known as Blake Belladonna, and the re-appearance of Weiss Schnee - four girls that would make an unlikely team.

oXo

Meanwhile, Claude was relaxing on the bed of his own room, holding a tablet with several records of the students that caught his interest - courtesy of Ozpin and Glynda.

Claude went to have a look at Jaune Arc's records first and foremost; and upon a single look, he immediately could tell that the entire transcript was fabricated. What was written did not suit what Claude had observed from the young boy; not to mention the dates and events recorded were out of place. Then again, Claude knew that Ozpin was not a fool who would be tricked by simple fake papers; there was a reason why the headmaster of Beacon Academy would allow Jaune Arc to attend the initiation.

Looking back at the history of Arc family, perhaps Jaune was the type who would bloom on battlefield, or other desperate situations? Besides, if he looked from another angle, Claude had to admit that Jaune possessed enough guts to blatantly cheat his way to Beacon. While he thought that he might be some kind of bully, Claude wholeheartedly would love to see how Jaune would fare in one of the most prestigious huntsman academy on Remnant. _This might be fun._

Looking up at the ceiling from the records before him, Claude's mind drifted to the topics about Arc family, particularly a certain man called Gilles Arc, who was actually Claude's senior by a year, and team CBPR used to hang out with his team before STRQ until Nicholas graduated.

If his memory still served him right, Ashton Arc, or Ash, was…. _Unique_. Every time he spoke to women whom he found attractive, they would find his words to be corny, cheesy even downright creepy for some – words that little girls tend to find in fairy tales about a knight and a princess. However, interestingly enough, Ash said those words and acted upon it with a pure, genuine admiration from his heart toward women folk.

Called him a pervert, a flirt, whatever, but Ash would always be the first to act whenever he saw a woman in trouble. Besides, he got better as the time went on in his academy years.

" _How's he doing, I wonder?"_ the last time Claude recall before that fateful day was, that Ash just got himself an _actual_ girlfriend and planned to introduce her by the time team CBPR and STRQ returned from their mission together.

Returning to read the records, his fingers then tapped on the screen, rolling the screen down on the next student - well, a pair of students, to be precise.

Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie; the reason Claude looked at both of their records because they were related in some way. From what he learned, Lie Ren was originally from Kuroyuri, a village on continent of Anima, located outside the borders of Mistral Kingdom. The village was destroyed in a grimm invasion, leaving Ren as one of the sole two survivors.

Nora Valkyrie, on the other hand, had not much to offer on her papers. It was safe to assume that she was orphaned since young age, hence the lack of background information; and the interesting part was, that she was found together with Lie Ren in the wake of Kuroyuri's destruction. Both orphans were taken in by a retired huntsman who was passing by, and the said huntsman wrote a letter of recommendation and applied the children to Beacon many years later.

For the two to receive a recommendation from a veteran huntsman, they must have had possessed some considerable skills. Nevertheless, Claude looked forward to see what the unlikely duo had in store.

The next list, however, caused him to raise his eyebrows - Pyrrha Nikos. A top graduate from Sanctum Academy in Mistral, hailed as 'Invincible Girl' for winning a championship in Mistral Regional Tournament four years in a row. Perfect in both academics and manners, her fame and popularity even offered her to be a mascot of Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes cereal.

"Come to think of it, we do have a Pumpkin Pete cereal in the teacher's lounge, don't we?" Claude's mind drifted briefly at a cereal box with Pyrrha's picture attached on it.

Nonetheless, Claude grew a small grin as he wanted to test what the girl was truly capable of, after all… _Nothing is invincible._

Speaking of celebrity - compared to the previous three, Weiss Schnee's records did not contain anything 'juicy', other than the fact that she was a top graduate from Alsius Academy of Atlas Kingdom before applying to Beacon, as well as the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company. For some reason Claude looked forward to work with her for the next four years, judging from mischievous smirk that grew on his lips; _the girl seemed like the type with lots of buttons to push_.

Moving on, Claude's eyes narrowed slightly when he read Blake Belladonna's record. He originally just skimmed her papers out of whim, and what he found made his curiosity peaked. There was no records of her attending any of primary combat school, but her transcripts were genuine; legally speaking, she was allowed to enrol into Beacon.

However, one of her records said that she was born in Managerie - an island on the southeast region of Remnant. The thing was, Claude recalled that the population of Managerie was 99% made of Faunus.

Suddenly, the image of Blake's twitching bow-ribbon flashed in his mind, and that made Claude went into further thinking. Few seconds later, however, Claude decided that he could look into her further later; twitching accessory alone was nowhere nearly enough to jump into any conclusion.

Finally, Claude arrived at the profile of his two nieces - Yang Xiao Long and Ruby Rose. Both of them used to attend Signal Academy; the elder sister had graduated while the younger one skipped two years through recommendation by Headmaster Ozpin himself. Yang's academic was more or less (barely) average, yet according to her transcripts, she was one of the best contenders when it came to practical lessons - in other words, combat class, among her peers. Ruby fared slightly better than her sister in academics, and under Qrow Branwen's apprenticeship, she was also regarded one of the most talented students among her peers.

However, there was some catch when Claude read their school rapports. While there was not much problem with Ruby, aside from her social awkwardness, Yang had been placed under multiple counselling sessions and detentions from getting into fights with her schoolmates. According to eyewitnesses, however, most of the fights began when Yang saw her sister getting picked on by local bullies, or if she herself was being harassed in the first place.

Claude could not help but snort at the records since he could relate. After all, he did remember getting involved into bunch of fights whenever someone was harassing Summer. Then again, it did not take long for Qrow and Taiyang to join his bandwagon when it came to her.

Believing that he had seen enough, Claude put the tablet away and prepared himself for bedtime. However, instead of tucking himself into the blanket, he rolled onto the floor and began to do some push-ups. A quick work-out before bed had become one of his habits to help himself sleep better.

Tomorrow would be the day when he would test what the future first years were capable of.

* * *

Claude was now standing together with Ozpin and Glynda on Beacon Cliff, overseeing the first year students standing on top of silver tiles. Aside from their combat gears and attires, each of them was also sporting a small bag on their backs.

However, they could not help but see Claude to be 'out of place' compared to Ozpin and Glynda. Unlike the adults who were standing with proper and dignified posture, the younger man was standing rather…. Casually; his feet seemed to fidget, his hands were tucked inside his pants, his eyes were wandering around the scenery beneath the cliff instead of the students, and he did not bother to hide his yawning when Ozpin began to speak.

"For years, you have trained to become warriors, and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest." Ozpin spoke and he glanced at the scenery beneath the cliff.

Glynda then alternately took over with her own instructions. "Now, I'm sure that many of you have heard rumours about the assignment of teams. So, we will put an end to your confusion; your teammates will be decided… _Today._ "

From the corner of his eyes, Claude could see that Ruby was visibly distraught.

"These teammates will stay with you for the rest of your time at Beacon. So it will be in your best interest if you pair up with someone with whom you can work well with." Ozpin put his own two-cents. "...That being said, the first person you make eye-contact with after you are sent out there, will be your partner for the next four years."

For some reason again, Claude could hear metaphorical sound of glass-shattering from Ruby, much to his amusement. "See, I told you!" He could also hear the girl with orange hair - Nora Valkyrie, excitedly whispering to her companion, Lie Ren, who only shook his head knowingly.

"However, I have to inform you first that the initiation this year will be a tad… _different_." Ozpin said while the corner of his lips twitched upwards in anticipation. "Previously, we usually had the initiation in a form of treasure-hunt. However, your initiation will be more akin to be… A Fox Hunt."

The last three words caused everyone to perk up. Ozpin then gestured his hand at Claude. "We have hired this gentleman here – Sterling Cole, to be your 'fox'."

As if on cue, Claude flashed a goofy grin as he nonchalantly waved his hand at the students. "What's up, folks." he gave a quick wink and knowing smile at the amused Ruby, Yang, and Jaune; although the rest of the students - especially Weiss, were not that impressed.

"...Although to be precise, your objectives are the relics strapped on his person." Ozpin continued.

When the students spared Claude another look, the young man was sporting a simple dark grey sleeveless armour with what appeared to be black and white chess pieces attached on his torso. Ruby and Yang noted that the velvet red coat was not on him, and her arm and leg guards were… replaced by segmented metal braces covering his legs and forearms.

"Those relics will serve as your tickets to enrol Beacon Academy." Ozpin added. "...And each pair will be tasked to… retrieve a relic from the fox and return it back to Beacon, or keep a hold on it until the initiation is over."

Weiss then raised up her hand. "A question, professor… If you don't mind."

"Of course, Ms. Schnee, what is it?" Ozpin actually expected at least one question regarding the initiation.

"How long do we have to… complete the mission?" Weiss asked as she eyed her 'target' warily.

"...The time limit is six hours." Ozpin replied. "Make the best of that time to find your partner, as well as completing the mission in hand." He then noticed another hand was raised. "Yes, Ms. Nikos."

"How do we know if Mr. Cole won't stay completely hidden from us?" Pyrrha turned to Claude awkwardly since she never heard his name.

"A good question, Ms. Nikos." Ozpin smiled a bit wider. "…A tracker had also been placed on Mr. Cole, if you check on your scroll, a map had been sent to you and his position will be updated to you every 30 minutes."

The students then fished out their scrolls – and they noticed that their maps had been updated with several dots.

"The blue dots indicate yourselves…" Glynda then took over the briefing again. "The green dots indicate your allies, while the yellow dot indicate Mr. Cole."

Most of everyone kept their eyes on their scrolls, taking in Glynda's points and noting the dots' positions.

Then, Ozpin spoke up, garnering everyone's attention once again. "Now, while we have taken several measures, you will expect some… additional obstacles standing in your path. Do not hesitate to destroy them, or you will die." The headmaster's expression was not joking for few seconds before he grew a small smirk. "…The same goes when you are confronting Mr. Cole, although I highly doubt that death will be your consequences in this particular case."

Some students tensed up as their expressions hardened, taking in Ozpin's words into hearts; while some others seemed not amused at the attempt of small joke.

However, another hand raised – belonged to a tall armoured boy with short brown hair. "You know, about this Fox Hunt thing… don't you think it's a bit unfair for us first years to fight against a qualified huntsman… If the guy over there is actually one." He said as he sceptically starred at 'Sterling'.

"Your concern is understandable, Mr. Winchester." Ozpin nodded. "But I assure you that we have placed several… _restrictions_ on Mr. Cole, so you people will have a fair chance to pass this test."

The man – Winchester scowled lightly, but he did not say anything further in return.

"While us instructors and teachers won't intervene on your behalf, your performance will be monitored and graded for the duration of initiation. Be sure that you or your partner are at least holding a relic when the time runs out." Ozpin then finished his briefing. "With those out of the way, per rules of Fox Hunt, Mr. Cole will be given 20-seconds head start."

"Wait, 20 seconds?" This time, it was 'Sterling' who turned to give questioning glance at Ozpin. "Uh, headmaster, sir? Don't you think it's a bit too short for me to cover enough distance?"

Ozpin only smirked knowingly, an expression that was surprisingly shared with Glynda. "You don't need to worry about that, Mr. Cole. The platform you're standing on will take care of that."

'Sterling' blinked and looked down to see he was actually standing on the same tile as everyone else. "Okay…? How does this hel- EEEP!"

All of sudden, the tile beneath 'Sterling' suddenly sprung up, launching the man towards the sky in the process. The students watched their fox screamed while flying to the air, and they immediately knew how they would catch up.

Approximately 20 seconds later, Ozpin turned back to his students. "…Now, if there's no more questions, take your positions."

Everyone obeyed the instruction given and took their stances, with the exception of the still-nervous looking Jaune.

oXo

" _Ozpin, you old reincarnating son of a bitch!"_

Claude cursed as he barely managed to fix his position mid-air. He wished there had been a little warning before Ozpin _fucking launched him into the air_. As soon as he could see the nearest tree getting closer of hitting him, he quickly had his shield right in front of him - allowing Shatter Storm to take the brunt of the impact against canopy of multiple trees.

He crashed into several trees until he plummeted into the ground like a comet. Grunting, he slowly stood up and shook the dizziness away from his head – a lesser man would have broken a bone or two. It was thanks to his aura that Claude managed to survive the fall.

He could talk to Ozpin and Glynda later, at the moment he had a job to do. He then fished out his scroll and his earpiece, which thankfully stayed intact despite the crash. "…Barty, pops, do you copy?" he said while placing the device on his ear.

[Copy.]

[Crystal.]

Barty and Peter's voice were heard through Claude's link.

"Okay, while I would've wanted to have Qrow with us as well, the guy had to leave on another mission, so it's up to you both alone to secure the parameter. Report for now." Claude instructed.

[No grimm on sight so far.]

[Clear on my side as well, sir.]

"Got it. Keep vigilant, we prefer to have this initiation to go without a hitch. Update me if anything happens."

[Yes, sir!]

[Claude, while we have decreased the grimm activity for this past few weeks, their numbers grew faster than us decimating them. Please expect that Emerald Forest will be still infested by grimm, especially those that escaped or hid from our radar.]

"I know. Thanks for the memo, Barty. Over and out…." Claude then turned his attention back on his job at hand.

As he decided to run off, Claude chose to turn on his communication again. "Barty, pops, one more thing, actually…"

[What is it?]

"Since when has Ozpin gotten this idea of launching people off a fucking cliff?" Claude did not bother to hide his annoyance.

Few seconds later, Claude could hear subtle giggling voices from his comm.

[I take you've had your first flight, sir? How was it?]

Claude snorted as he knew the tone Peter was using. "Oh, it's _exhilarating_ , alright. _Really_ a once-in-a-lifetime experience." he replied sarcastically.

[I know you'd enjoy such experience, Claude. Reminding you of good ol' days, isn't it?]

At Barty's remark, Claude scoffed. "Maybe, but for the record, free-falling and being launched into the air are two completely different things."

[If you say so.]

Peter and Barty's responses came simultaneously, causing Claude to sigh. "...Anyway, I guess we gotta go back to our jobs again. Catch y'all later." he then sped up his running away from the students that should have been sent out to his way by now.

* * *

Back to the cliff - after seeing Jaune Arc screaming above the sky, Ozpin took a sip from his mug as Glynda tapped onto her tablet.

"You seemed to be in better mood, Glynda." Ozpin suddenly said while keeping his eyes on the forest before him. "...Does it have anything to do with Mr. Cole's 'deployment' earlier?" he glanced back while smiling knowingly.

Glynda starred from her tablet at the headmaster for a second before her own lips grew into an imperceptible smirk. "I'm afraid I have no idea what you are talking about." she said as she walked to stood next to headmaster. "...Although I admit that the sight of Mr. Cole's reaction of our deployment method was… mildly amusing."

Ozpin only nodded in return as he took another sip from his mug. "Then again, headmaster…. Are you sure about this?" Glynda suddenly asked again. "With the proposal and agreement we have made with Claude, and how the initiation will develop, we might end up not having any first-year students to attend Beacon."

"Fear not, Glynda." Ozpin replied with confident tone. "The arrangement we have set up with Mr. Rose will not only affirming more promising future huntsmen and huntresses; we can confirm if Mr. Rose's skills can still be contributed for our long-term cause, as well as proving him that our decision regarding young Ruby's enrollment was not without basis."

Glynda seemed to ponder over Ozpin's words, but her face was not completely convinced yet.

"...Besides, we have placed handicaps upon him, have we not? I'd say that Mr. Rose will be having quite a hard time himself." Ozpin added.

Glynda only sighed in return, seemingly had accepted her superior's reasoning, at least for the time being. However, there was still skepticism in her eyes. "To be honest, sir? I think we should have placed more handicaps on him."

"...Perhaps." Ozpin chuckled in return at his secretary's last comment. "In any case, let's just see how things will unfold, shall we?" he finished with a hint of eagerness in his eyes, hidden by his grey bangs and the black lenses of his sunglasses.

* * *

 **Omake**

"Wait, so that night on our first semester break together – when I found myself getting smashed while floating on the local public swimming pool, everything was all your doing!?"

Qrow said incredulously as he just decapitated a Creep with his weapon – a great sword that had seemingly transformed into a large scythe. His remark garnered several laughs, particularly from a young man who just jumped and impaled a bear-like grimm right through its nape.

"On my defence, it was all Rome's idea." Claude hopped off the disintegrating carcass. "…And for your information, your team was also involved, especially Tai and Raven."

"Wha-, but-!" Qrow then turned at Peter. "…And you didn't do anything to stop this numb-nuts leader of yours?"

"Qrow, do I need to remind you that both me and Barty were just as drunk as everyone else in that bar?" Peter retorted with a sigh, while easily blasted a Beowulf's head off. "…In fact, I must admit that I recall myself laughing when the spiked drink Claude and Roman concocted… finally took effect on your person."

Qrow's lower jaw was hanging, but he decided to sigh in defeat. "…You guys are bunch of assholes."

Peter looked apologetic enough while Claude only barked a laugh in return. Then, they heard statics on their earpieces – someone was joining their communication channel.

[Team CBPR and Huntsman Branwen, this is Glynda Goodwitch speaking. Do you copy?]

Considering that there was no more grimm in their immediate vicinity, Claude tapped on his link and responded. "Copy, Goodwitch. What can we help you with?"

[Right, I'd like to speak with Claude about this bank statement I just received this morning…]

At Glynda's words, Qrow and Peter noticed that Claude mildly froze on his position.

[There are…. Few online orders and purchases for merchandises and goods… Which I deduced to be related to _you_.]

For some reason, Glynda's last word was laced with noticeable amount of venom.

[So, my question is; Claude Rose, did you just somehow hack into my online bank account and used my money for online shopping?]

Qrow and Peter saw Claude began to sweat as he rolled his eyes awkwardly. "Err…."

[Claude….!]

Glynda's tone in their channel also sounded that she was running out of patience.

"Oh my god, Glynda, we've been ambushed! We're surrounded! They're everywhere! Oh, no! Oh go-!" Claude then prematurely turned off the channel. "….That could've gone worse." He sighed and turned to see Peter was giving him a not-amused expression, while Qrow was looking at him with raised eyebrows.

"Heheh, err…. Whoops?" Claude awkwardly said.

Qrow only rolled his eyes while Peter sighed in resignation. Then, Barty's voice was heard on their channel.

[You know what, Claude? Roman really is a bad influence on you. On that note, Glynda's expense will be reimbursed from your salary.]

In return, Claude was the one who looked surprised. "…Wait, am I actually getting paid?"

Meanwhile, in a secluded place within the City of Vale, a certain thief suddenly sneezed, spooking a young girl with dichromatic eyes next to him.


	5. Beacon Initiation (II)

**RWBY: The Redeemer**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY!**

* * *

 **Beta read by Starlight's Poet**

 **Chapter 4: Beacon Initiation (II)**

In the middle of Emerald Forest, Lie Ren was making his way through the greenery, trying to recall the direction his 'target' just flew to. He, along with the rest of his peers clearly flew to the same direction, but the gap was 20 seconds - enough for the fox of this hunt to make more distance between them.

He stopped when he saw several broken trees. Narrowing his eyes, Ren believed that he was getting closer to the location where the fox just landed. He looked around, making sure that there was no hostile - like grimm around, and he approached the last broken tree with caution.

He looked around again - scurrying the area for clues, tracks, anything that could lead him to his objective. If he were to think of it again, the initiation was actually a lot more difficult that what he heard in the past. Not only he had to find a mobile target, he most likely had to fight with a veteran, if push came to shove.

Then again, not everything was stacked against him; Ren had plenty of time, and along with everyone else, he was also given a way to track his objective. For now, he needed a plan, as well as a reliable partner.

KRRROAA! KRROOAA!

As if on cue, Ren suddenly heard a strange animal sound, and a second later, someone else was hanging upside-down on a tree above him. Looking at a familiar pair of turquoise eyes, Ren smiled knowingly. "...I don't think that's how a sloth sounds like, Nora."

"Boop!" The girl with orange hair - Nora Valkyrie, simply kept her smile as she playfully touched her index finger on Ren's nose, eliciting a wider smile from the latter.

oXo

"Oh, again, thank you." Jaune Arc said with a relieved sigh as he landed onto the ground, after getting stuck from a tree by a javelin on his hoodie. "...That's a big save earlier. Looking forward to work with you, partner." he finished with his hand offered and a grateful smile upon his face.

It had been quite some time after all of the future first-year students had been launched on their Fox Hunt initiation. After making her landing, Pyrrha Nikos's eyes caught Jaune's body flailing around in the air. In that short-time of Jaune's airborne period, she thought weird at first, when she saw his panic expression from the scope of her rifle-sword-javelin hybrid - Jaune should've had no need to panic since his aura would take the brunt of his fall, so why did he look scared?

Perhaps he was never comfortable airborne, after all, she did see him retching inside an airship yesterday. A second later - out of obligation - she immediately morphed her rifle into a javelin and made sure that she was aiming at Jaune's hoodie to prevent his fall.

"No problem, and likewise, I'll be in your care." Pyrrha Nikos smiled in return as she gave Jaune's hand a firm shake.

The two then suddenly found themselves into an awkward silence. For the girl, her encounter with the boy was quite a refreshing experience to her. Before Beacon Academy, she had always been regarded as some kind of untouchable girl, both figuratively and literally; making it hard for her to make friends who were willing to see her eye-to-eye.

Jaune Arc, however, was different. His dorkiness aside, until Weiss introduced her as the four-times champion of Mistral Regional Tournament, he only saw her as a normal girl wanting to be a huntress, and the thought of having him as her partner brought a smile on her face.

For Jaune, having someone like Pyrrha as his partner felt surreal. He knew that she's a nice girl, and he was baffled when he learned from Weiss - who just ditched him when their eyes met earlier, that Pyrrha was practically way over his league. Perhaps he had a better chance with Weiss rather than the red-hair before him.

Thankfully for them, the somewhat uncomfortable silence was broken when both of their scrolls let out a beeping sound. They took out their devices and saw the screen was showing the map of Emerald Forest with several dots of blue, green and yellow on.

"I… guess we know what to do from here." Jaune remarked, all while carefully looking at the surrounding area, until his eyes were trained at the sun in the sky. "...We have until around late afternoon to complete our mission, so… I think we're supposed to head that way." he pointed at the direction.

Pyrrha seemed to nod in agreement, and she grew intrigued at Jaune's analysis. "...You seem to know how to navigate in this kind of environment."

"I used to go for camping trip at Anima with my family a lot. Knowing your way without a compass or map is kind of necessary." Jaune replied with confident smile.

"I see…" Pyrrha nodding in acquisition. However, her eyes caught something else on Jaune's face. "Hold on a sec, Jaune… You're injured." she trained her eyes at the scratch on Jaune's right cheek.

Jaune only realised when his fingers brushed over the wound, giving him a slight sting on his skin. "Ah, probably before your spear managed to catch me." he then waved off. "...That's okay, it's just a scratch."

Pyrrha furrowed her eyebrows slightly. "Jaune… Why didn't you activate your aura when you're about to crash?"

Jaune only blinked before he replied, "...My what?"

Thus the time flew by with Pyrrha giving Jaune a crash-course about Aura, as well as unlocking his aura, before the two resumed their journey towards the assigned objective.

* * *

"Ugh… This is so boring~!"

Yang Xiao Long threw her hands up in the air as she complained. It had been around 20 minutes since she had landed, yet she had not encountered anything that could allow her to stretch her limbs.

"Where's everyone else? Where's our target? There's not even a grimm! Where's the action? Where's the challenge!?"

Next to Yang, a girl in black and white - Blake Belladonna, sighed silently as she kept her pace with her apparent partner. "Yang, while I understand that you'd like a challenge, but I believe having no grimm is actually a good thing."

Yang only groaned in return, however, Blake could not help but feel curious as well. The blonde girl had a point; it had been quite some time since they landed in Emerald Forest, while it was obvious that their 'fox' had made the run to avoid them, it was rather strange that they had not encounter any monster around. Then again, recalling that the teachers had taken measures, Blake came to understand the reason of the lack of grimm around.

"...If you want challenge, just keep your ears and eyes open, you'll probably spot something soon enough." Blake reasoned to appease Yang's sour mood, which the latter only replied with a huff, yet she complied as Blake could see Yang scanning their surrounding.

After all, despite the boredom, both huntresses in training knew better than letting their guard off in the wilderness, it was not as if all grimm had vanished from the forest, they just became less to encounter.

Blake and Yang walked through the forest's foliages until Blake stopped, prompting Yang to do so as well. "What is it?" the latter asked.

"Look." Blake took few steps forward before crouching on the ground with a footprint on. "There's a track…." she brushed her fingers on the print. "...Although it's not so fresh anymore, our target did pass through this path."

Yang hummed as she watched the footprint. "...Are you sure it's our guy, though? Could it be one of other students?"

"Possible, but then again, meeting someone is better than meeting no one, right?" Blake replied with knowing smirk.

Yang's expression brightened up slightly at Blake's point. "...Lead the way, then."

The two began their trek once again, until Yang struck up a conversation. "So… What do you think about this target of ours, this Sterling guy?"

Blake glanced at her partner, wondering the meaning behind the question for a second. Passing it off as a mere curiosity, as well as a chance to learn more about their target, she decided to humour her. "I… thought he was kind of aloof at first, but turns out he's just laid-back."

"Yeah… I guess that's kind of my opinion too." Yang shrugged. "...Y'know, I actually ran into him for a couple of times before."

That actually got Blake's attention. "...Really?" she asked with intrigued tone.

"Yeah, he was visiting my home for some business with my dad… Honestly, he's kind of weird; froze up when he met me and my sister for the first time." Yang looked back at Sterling's strange attitude. "The second time I met him was in the city, I was…. Taking a walk when I ran to him with my sister in tow." Yang purposely hid the fact that she just wrecked a night-club.

"Okay…" Blake nodded. "...Did you learn anything about him, maybe?"

"Err… Not much, we didn't talk about anything important." Yang shrugged before she scowled lightly. "Although… For some reason I feel that I've seen his face somewhere… But I can't remember."

Blake raised her eyebrows at this point. "Huh… I guess that does sound kind of strange."

The talk got interrupted when their scrolls beeped. Upon inspection, Blake and Yang found that they were being updated about 'Sterling Cole's' whereabouts. "Well, well, well… What do we know." Yang grinned as her eyes looked between the direction they were heading and the scroll. "Looks like we are on the right track. It's a bit far, but our target is around that way."

Showing her own eager smile, Blake nodded as she and Yang quickened their pace through the forest.

oXo

Meanwhile, another heated conversation was taking place within Emerald Forest.

"It's this way…" Weiss Schnee carefully walked forward with decent pace with her eyes alternating between her scroll and the path before her, with Ruby Rose following behind her while sporting an unconvinced look.

Truthfully speaking, Weiss did not want a girl two years her junior as her partner, but she eventually had to settle lest she would have ended up partnering with Jaune Arc. After receiving the latest update on their target's location on their scroll, the two finally began their trek through Emerald Forest

...For the last 15 minutes - at this point, while Weiss and Ruby could tell their target's location, they could not really tell if they were heading towards the right direction. It did not help the case when Weiss haughtily took charge of the search as she herself did not really know about how to read a map.

"Weiss, will you just admit that you have no idea where we are supposed to go?" Ruby finally had enough and spoke up.

"I know where exactly we're going, okay?!" Weiss shot back. "We are closing into his location, see!?" she pointed at the screen of her scroll.

"I think that's around five minutes ago. He's probably already run off somewhere else by the time we reach him." Ruby commented.

"Just shut up and follow me!" Weiss decided to have enough herself and stomped forward; with Ruby grumbling behind her.

The only small reprieve the two could find was the fact there was no grimm sighted. At least they could solely focus on completing their objective.

* * *

Claude was trekking alone through the forest as he carefully took in his surroundings. So far so good - there was no grimm in sight, no students as well; all he did for the past half an hour or so was simply free-running with decent pace to shake off his pursuers.

He looked up at the sky, the sun was pretty high up. Claude then contemplated if he should catch a quick break soon, but then again, his current location was not exactly ideal to relax.

There was no news from Peter nor Barty either; which meant there was no new grimm coming to Emerald Forest yet. However, Claude's scroll beeped and he saw a news from Glynda.

 _The last pair has been formed_.

Claude's lips grew into a smile. With all the students were partnered up, the real hunt could truly begin. When he thought of partners, however, for some reason his mind assumed that Ruby would be partnered with Yang; then again, Claude quickly dismissed the thought - it was just useless assumption, after all.

He already had a plan of how to approach the initiation, but then again, making his way through the forest without anyone else felt kind of lonely for him. He was a bit tempted to make a quick call to Peter or Barty, but he did not want to distract them.

Thus, he rummaged through his pack, and fished out a headset and plugged the cable into his scroll, he selected his playlist and hit the play button.

oXo

"Slow down, we're closing in." Blake prompted Yang to stop their running. "...I can hear noises."

The black-haired girl walked into a crouch, which Yang followed suit, and the two girls carefully approach the source while using grass and foliage as their cover. Blake glanced at Yang again, and after sharing a nod, the girls poked their heads out of the bushes to make out the scenery around 10 meters ahead.

While maintaining their stealth, Blake and Yang saw Sterling Cole, with their tickets into Beacon strapped on the armour on his torso. The huntsman himself was wearing a headset that was attached via cable to his scroll, and he seemed to listen to a music, judging from his rhythmic movements.

 _(BGM: Come and Get Your Love by Redbone)_

Sterling was at first bopping his head up and down subtly as he walked, followed by the shaking of his arms, then the swaying of his hips, as his feet began their own footwork to follow the whatever music he was listening to.

Blake and Yang blinked once, then twice, before they glanced at each other and returned to see Sterling sporting a jazz-hand pose with his mouth lip-dubbing silently, as if he was _singing_.

"...Well, someone thinks he's a hot stuff." Yang said as her lips grew into a slightly feral grin. She was about to just throw all caution into the air and jumped on the unassuming prey, when Blake suddenly held her shoulder to hold her down. "Hey, what-!"

"Ssshh!" Blake quickly hushed her while her amber eyes were still trained on Sterling's dancing body. Looking back at her partner, she silently beckoned her to follow while remain hidden behind the bushes.

Feeling that she needed to keep low-profile, Yang asked with hushed tone. "What's the big idea? I'd say we surprise him now."

"...That's exactly what he's going after." Blake simply replied. "I almost fell for it earlier; he might seemed to be without any guard, but his eyes were scanning his surrounding as he… _danced._ " she said the last word with slight disdain. "He would've seen us coming if we're careless. Just give him more time until he actually felt that he's alone, then you can go wild on him."

Yang did not seem to be too thrilled, but she relented with a huff as she trained her lilac eyes on Sterling - who just jumped and spun his heels on the small puddle, his foot kicked the water to splash around a little bit. "Fine, I'll play along for now. Besides…" her expression lightened up as she nodded. "...I gotta say he got some moves there; I don't know what he's listening to, his moves are kind of old-school, but quite smooth for the eyes." she smirked as her eyes noticed how toned Sterling's arms were.

Blake only sighed and rolled her eyes in return, and the two girls kept watching Sterling walking while enjoying his music. Few moments later, the girls noticed there was something obstructing Sterling's path - Creatures of Grimm, albeit small ones.

Creatures of Grimm had different life-cycle, depending on their type or species. While their origin was yet to be determined, observation and field studies had learned that some grimm were born with the size of an average child, while some others born with the size of a rat - like in case of those that were standing in front of Sterling.

They were called 'Creep', a grimm with hunched posture and stood on two hind-legs, like an ostrich. Their sizes were small enough to be held by one hand, but their numbers were still enough to cause some nuisance. Noticing a human walking towards them, the small creeps hissed and screeched as the first one immediately ran towards him with reckless abandon.

While listening and dancing to his music, Sterling simply kicked the first incoming Creep, followed with the second, third, fourth, and fifth one like soccer balls.

From the spectator's side, Blake and Yang raised their eyebrows - amusement grew on their faces as they saw the small body of grimm flew away by Sterling's boots.

However, unknown to them there was another small Creep that was stalking Sterling from a nearby tree-branch, and when it lunged at him from his blind-spot, the young man easily caught him without looking. The small grimm struggled within the man's grasp to break free, its head snapping at him in futile.

Then, while maintaining his grip over the creature, Sterling began to pretend-sing with his mouth moving next to the snapping grimm, as if the creature was a _microphone_.

Yang let out an impressed whistle by this point. "...Huh, I guess you're right about him not letting his guard down; this dude has style." she whispered, receiving a small, reluctant nod from her partner.

However, unknown to Blake and Yang (again), there were more pair of eyes watching the whole spectacle.

oXo

"Whoa, that actually looks kind of cool..." Jaune whispered in comment while crouching in his own hiding spot, as he saw Sterling singing with a grimm as his make-shift microphone.

"Um… Yeah, I guess so."

Next to Jaune was Pyrrha, who looked rather stupefied at the sight of Sterling Cole spinning again to the sound of music in his ears, all while holding the poor grimm in his hand. It was her very first time to see a huntsman acting so… _nonchalant_.

oXo

From the top of a tree, another two pairs of eyes were also watching Sterling Cole doing a small tap-dance, all while singing with a grimm-microphone.

"Whoa, Renny…. Do you think we can try doing that some time?" Nora said with ecstatic eyes.

Ren only sighed while rolling his eyes without any comment, he was grateful that his partner was still able to keep her voice down.

oXo

"Urgh…! How hard it is to find a guy with a sword and a shield on his back!?"

Weiss shouted with infuriated tone as she got herself and Ruby lost yet again. The coordinate update was still some time later, and they started burning daylight. At this point, she and her 'partner' might as well stopping for a quick lunch-break.

Few moments of snapping and frustration later, Weiss heaved a sigh in resignation. "Ruby, let's-"

"Err… Weiss?"

The heiress turned to find the younger girl staring at a distance, her silver eyes were trained at one direction.

"...I think I found him."

Weiss blinked once before she quickly caught up to her partner's side. "Really? Where?!"

Ruby pointed out, and Weiss squinted her eyes to make out a shape at far distance. The two shared a glance and a nod to each other, then they marched until they stopped to take cover behind a nearby tree and see their target getting out from the trees, into a large grassland area.

When Weiss got a better look at her objective, she could not help but narrow her eyes in confusion. "...What is he doing?"

Ruby stared at the sight of Sterling dancing and singing to what appeared to be a rat-sized Creep in his hand.

"...Is it just me, or he's holding a grimm like it's a microphone?" Ruby replied with her own question.

Soon enough, they saw Sterling finally killed the grimm in his hand by snapping its neck with a flick of his wrist and fingers, before tossing the disintegrating carcass over his shoulder.

"Such… audacity! What does he think this initiation is?!" Weiss was seething as Sterling danced and sang his way towards stone ruins in the middle of the clearing.

They watched Sterling settled on a stone structure and unpacked his bag. Ruby and Weiss immediately readied their weapons, believing it was a perfect opportunity to strike.

 _GRRRRLLL…._

However, a loud growling sound echoed through the forest, causing Sterling to pause and check on his surroundings. A grimm attack? Did one bypass Peter and Barty's guard? Or could it be a grimm that managed to hide from the extermination from the other day?

Few seconds stretched to a minute, but nothing happened so far. No roar, no sounds of battle; Sterling's lips then grew into a small, knowing smile and he returned to what he was doing...

oXo

Back to the trees, by some miraculous intervention, all the stomach of those who were stalking Sterling just growled in hunger. Everyone ducked into their cover when Sterling was put on alert, and they sighed when they saw their target finally relaxed and was now eating his lunch.

From their tree, Weiss was blushing while Ruby gave an awkward glance. "Well, that kind of ruined our momentum, did it?" receiving a glare from the heiress, the younger girl sheepishly laughed before she held up her own backpack. "...Maybe we should fill our belly first? The sun's high and we still have some time."

At this point, Weiss simply did not care as she grumpily sat down and took out her rations. Ruby hesitantly followed suit and the two had their awkward lunch-break, with the heiress glaring daggers at Sterling while biting off her protein bar.

oXo

While Blake and Yang were lying on their stomachs under the cover of bushes, the former was slightly flushed while the latter was holding back her own laughter.

"What's so funny? Your stomach is growling too." Blake whispered with slightly infuriated tone.

"Sorry, sorry…. It's just the whole thing! I can't help it!" Yang said with a deep breath.

Blake narrowed her eyes at her partner before she sighed. "...You know what? Let's move back a bit and have our lunch. Don't take too long, though. We still need to keep track on him."

"Aye, aye, boss-lady!" Yang cheekily saluted and Blake rolled her eyes again, then the two stood up and retreated to find a proper spot for their break.

oXo

"Do you think he heard us?" Jaune asked pensively as he did all he could to stay hidden.

"No, I don't think he did." Next to him, Pyrrha quickly replied while her face was blushing furiously for her slovenly attitude.

Jaune peeked over to see Sterling was no longer on his toes, and he sighed in relief. "Well, err…" he then awkwardly stared at Pyrrha's red face. "...Y'know, I'm hungry myself. Let's fill our bellies first before we move on, shall we?" he asked with chipper tone, hoping that he could alleviate the mood somehow.

Thankfully, Pyrrha actually felt better when Jaune decided to bring the topic itself. She smiled in small gratitude and they looked for a better spot.

oXo

Ren breathed out, as he was sure that Sterling did not locate his and his partner's hiding spot. "Nora, let's-" he then turned to see the orange-haired girl was already munching through her rations on top of the tree-branch above him.

"Hm?" Nora hummed as she swallowed. "What is it, Ren?"

Ren sighed as he chose to just settle to eat lunch on top of a tree – the location was already good enough for reconnaissance.

* * *

Claude breathed out as he just gulped down his sports drink. He had gotten used to go on a mission without much food, so he was fine without a lunch.

He assessed the situation so far; he purposely enjoying his trek in leisure to see the participant's reaction - so far, nobody fell to his act. He knew all along that he had been watched, but he just could not really tell about the numbers and positions of his stalkers.

So far, so good – he might not had encountered any opposition yet, there was no report of grimm-sighting either, at least not yet; no news was good news.

However, as he was sitting on the stony surface, Claude could not help but scowl at his boots, the braces covering his arms, and his attire overall. The so-called handicaps that the headmaster had placed upon him had began to get on his nerves. Then again, going without handicaps would not make it fair at all for the prospective first-years.

Eventually, Claude sighed in resignation – he could use some challenge to get himself deeper in the game. With another smirk, he made himself comfortable on his seat as he went to the next step of his 'act'.

Fishing out his scroll, he began to try out the game that he used to enjoy with his old friends - _Ninja Slayer Ultimate Death Battle V_.

oXo

"So, um, Pyrrha. Anything happen?" Jaune said as he just finished his ration and chugging on his drink.

The said girl was watching their target through her rifle's scope. "He hasn't moved from the location yet…. And still looking that he's enjoying himself."

At Pyrrha's tone, Jaune could not help but ask. "What is he doing this time?"

"Um… Looks like he's playing a game on his scroll." Pyrrha could not help but sweat-drop.

Jaune wiped his mouth clean and took the spot next to his partner. "O...kay, I guess it's a good time to ambush him as any?" he suggested nervously. Truthfully, he actually believed an ambush to be a decent plan, but then again, he still prefer to have his partner's approval.

Pyrrha narrowed her eyes slightly, not that she did not understand Jaune's thinking, but she was more of the type who prefer to face her opponents head-on, fair and square. On the other hand, her moral code would not apply in the unforgiving world of huntsmen against the creatures of grimm. Perhaps this initiation was the moment for her to learn about 'reading the terrain'.

"Agreed. Shall we wait and see for few more minutes?" the red-hair suggested; the time she spent for combat, be it training and tournament, had honed her instinct enough to warn her that they had only _one_ chance to pull a successful attempt against the man for their target - Sterling Cole.

Even when Sterling was seen singing and dancing in the middle of wilderness without a care, Pyrrha's trained eyes could see the subtle movements of his muscles, his eyes - that Sterling was not without a guard. The fact that he easily dispatched the small grimm while dancing was enough testament of his skill as a huntsman. The phrase 'do not judge the book by its cover' truly applied on him.

"Yeah, sounds good… Wait, what's he doing?" Jaune was agreeing to Pyrrha's suggestion when he noticed their target stood up from his position and walked towards a small corner of the ruins.

When they saw what Sterling was doing, Pyrrha's face lit up as she averted her eyes away. "Oh, my…"

Jaune himself only groaned lightly as his expression grew uncomfortably awkward at what he was witnessing.

oXo

"Get ready, Nora." Ren told his partner as he crouched on the branch he was standing on and whipped out a pair of green, full-automatic pistols with sickle blades attached under the barrels, from his sleeves.

The girl, Nora, gave a blood-thirsty grin as she took out a grenade launcher from her waist, the weapon was aimed at Sterling's location.

The two had a quick discussion of their plan, and it was simple; Nora would open and gave Ren a cover fire, while the latter would make his way towards the objective.

"On my mark…" Ren narrowed his eyes, and Nora only widened her grin, her finger was twitching at the trigger of her launcher. "...Wait."

Only for Ren to suddenly hold up the attack. Not that Nora did not understand; after all, they both saw Sterling suddenly stood up from his game and walked a bit away from the stone he sat on.

Few seconds later, Nora yelped and looked away from her target, shielding her flustered face with her weapon. Ren himself only sighed and closed his eyes, massaging the bridge of his nose in the process.

oXo

"So, any ideas?" Blake asked her partner once the two girls had finished their rations. They now needed to form a plan to get their hands on objective, who was busy playing a video game on his scroll.

"Simple, hit him hard and hit him fast." Yang replied with excited grin, she flexed her arms and her golden bracelets transformed into a pair of forearm gauntlets with red bullet shells within its inner side.

For some reason, Blake was not surprised, as reckless as Yang's plan sounded. "...Okay, so here's what we'll do." Blake then began. "I'll have the first strike, and while he's busy, you can go hit him hard and hit him fast as you said."

"No problem, partner!" Yang winked as Blake brandished her weapon, which appeared as an oversized cleaver.

"Okay, now steady…." Blake crouched with her eyes trained at Sterling's form, and out of Yang's notice, the bow on top of her head twitched. "...Wait, hang on."

Both Blake and Yang quickly moved back to their hiding spot when they saw Sterling abruptly paused his gaming and stood up.

When Sterling stopped and stood with his side facing the girls' general direction, Blake gasped a little and covered her eyes while looking away with flushed face, while Yang whistled at the sight before her.

"Hm… Not bad, not bad at all." Yang nodded with her eyes staring approvingly at Sterling, not knowing that her partner was currently glaring disapprovingly at her.

oXo

"So…. Anything new with Sterling?" Ruby asked as she joined her partner after wrapping up her bags.

"...That dunce is still enjoying his own little world." Weiss huffed as she had also finished her lunch.

Ruby took out her Crescent Rose into its rifle form and had a closer look through her scope. "Oh, it's the newest version of Ninja Slayer Ultimate Death Battle! Yang and I used to play the fourth game a lot before coming to Beacon!"

"Ruby, focus!"

"Right, right, sorry." Ruby bashfully snapped out of her reverie from Weiss' scolding. She then re-focused her attention at her current objective. "Right, so now our target is preoccupied, we can spring an ambush and get our hands on the relics, and we can become official students of Beacon!" she proudly declared.

Weiss held up a finger, wanted to say something. However, she realised that her young partner had the agreeable general idea; ambush while the target was distracted. "...Fine." she replied with a small pout, not really like the fact that she was not the one to come up with such an obvious plan.

"Great! Here's what we're gonna do..." When Ruby was about to lay out the detail of her plan, she suddenly saw Sterling stopped his gaming to stand up from his seat. "...Uh-oh, take cover!"

Ruby and Weiss quickly hid themselves from any chance of being sighted by their target. Carefully peeking from their hiding spot, they were just in time to see Sterling standing a bit away from his sitting spot from earlier to… _unzip his fly_.

Ruby yelped as she hid again while pulling her red hood over her fuming head, while Weiss also did the same and was also faring no better; the heiress was _furiously_ fuming as well. "That… that…! _Degenerate_! Showing us something like that…!"

"Well…. It's been quite some time, after all…. There's no toilet around here…" Ruby tried to rationalise the situation with her head remained hidden under her hood, but it did not work well enough.

Weiss on the other hand, could not stand anymore, as soon as Sterling had finished his business. Brandishing her customised rapier, she took a stance, preparing to charge - consequences be damned, until a voice echoed through the clearing and stopped her from moving any further.

"HEY!"

* * *

Claude took a breath as he relieved himself to the call of nature. He could still feel that he was being watched, but he could not care less at this point - he would not be able to do his job properly if he was too focused holding his bladder.

When he just finished re-zipped his pants, a shout was heard. "HEY!"

He cursed under his breath, as he scrambled a bit and turned around, to see a mob of people standing before him. "Whoa, dude!" Claude then quickly adjusted his pants and faced the one who seemingly led the mob. "...Can't you give a guy some privacy?" it was good thing that he had finished his business.

"Heh…" the tall young man with short brown hair, clad in a body armour scoffed, as he rested his mace over his shoulder. "...I've been spending almost an hour inside that god-forsaken forest to find you, and here you're taking a piss… What a joke."

That line made Claude blinked. "Um, wait, hold on a second." he held his hand up. "...Are you saying that you - _all of you_ just arrived here?" he eyed the entire group - they were definitely not amused.

"So what if we are, huh?!" the supposedly 'leader' of the mob shot back.

That actually made Claude silently sighed in disappointment for two things; firstly, these people had been given GPS and it took _this long_ for them to track his current location.

Secondly, those who had been watching him were lacking initiative; as unconventional and suicidal as it seemed in the middle of a _hunt_ , Claude was definitely vulnerable when he was taking care of business, yet nobody was willing to ambush him; were they too honourable for their own good, or they just too shy seeing him urinating? _Perhaps they were still young in the end_.

"...Y'know, when I learned that I have to hunt some kind of a veteran, I was kind of worried." the mob leader began to speak.

" _Come to think of it, who is this guy again?"_ while Claude did read the roaster of students applying for Beacon, he mostly skimmed the list and focused only on those who caught his fancy - he did not know the name of the youngster in front of him at all.

"...And look what we found." the mob leader gestured at the mob behind him, who seemed to share his sentiment, even if for a bit. "Sitting on your ass like you're some hot shit…. You don't even look that tough, even with those fancy weapons on your back. Are they for compensating something else?" he asked with cocky smirk.

Claude then grew his own smirk. "...Who knows?" he began, his eyes gained a glint that set some of the mob on edge. "Would you like to come and find out? Although whatever you're implying probably can't even fit inside that big mouth of yours."

As Claude expected, the mob leader's eyes twitched. "Besides…" Claude then cracked his knuckles and turned his neck around to pop some creaks. "Are we going to stand around here all day? Or are we gonna fight?" he then opened his arms tauntingly.

"...You took the words out of my mouth." The mob-leader tightened his grip around his mace, and as if on cue, everyone behind him also brandished their own weapons. "Get him!"

With the mob-leader running ahead first, everyone else behind soon followed. However, in the face of overwhelming numbers, Claude Rose only grew his smirk into a feral grin before he also marched forward.

* * *

 **Omake**

With a roar and mighty swing, Peter Port just decapitated a head of a massive serpentine grimm with black colour.

However, there was another serpent grimm in white that immediately lunged at Peter's open back. Then, a sizeable heater shield suddenly came from above, its point and weight slammed through the white snake's head and flattened it on the ground.

Above the shield with a sword still sheathed into it, Claude Rose was crouching on top of the sword's handle. "Good work, pops." he grinned at Peter. "...Looks like age isn't enough to rust you."

"In your dreams." Peter retorted with a smile under his mustache. "...And thank you, sir."

"Always got each other's back, remember?" Claude held up his fist and the two shared a fist-bump.

"Should we call it a day, then?" Claude and Peter turned to see Qrow Branwen approaching them, fading carcasses of grimm laid behind in his wake.

It was just another day of grimm-extermination in Emerald Forest for Claude, Peter and Qrow. The former two looked up to the sky and noticed the blue colour had changed its hue to darker blue - the sun was getting low.

Agreeing that the three should head back to Beacon for the moment, Qrow' scroll suddenly rang. When the man looked at the screen, however, his eyebrows furrowed.

"What is it, Qrow?" Claude asked with slightly edgy tone.

"Some spam from…. Club Penguin?" Qrow narrowed his eyes at the screen. "...The hell?"

Peter noticed Claude's frame flinched for a bit. "Err…. Qrow?"

Qrow who noticed Claude's nervous expression, only raised his eyebrows demandingly. "...Zapper? Anything you know about this?"

"Um, yeah, here's the thing…" Claude played with his fingers. "Few days ago, I just found this seemingly fun online game and… I basically set up an account under your name."

Qrow blinked and returned to read the screen carefully. "Your child has created a free Club Penguin account…. No, he's not my child!" Qrow then gave an incredulous look at the 'perpetrator'. "The fuck, Zapper!?"

"Look, it's just one time thing, just click the authorisation link and you won't get anymore newsletter!" Claude tried to reason.

"No, I ain't taking responsibility over you as my fucking 'child'! I'm deleting this! Go figure things out yourself!"

Before Qrow could have tapped his finger on his scroll screen, Claude had already tackled him - the two tumbled and rolled across the ground and things turned into a comical brawl between them. "No, you will help your buddy here! Don't take my pleasure away!"

Peter only sighed at the childish sight and he turned on his comm link. "Barty, it appears that we'll be back to Beacon a tad late."

[Yes, I can hear that all the way here. In fact, I believe you can just leave them here, those two will be fine.]

"I will…. Consider that." Peter said with defeated tone.

It was an eventful evening after a good day of hunting.

* * *

 **Please review (no flame)! They make my day! Ahsoei, over and out.**


	6. Beacon Initiation (III)

**RWBY: The Redeemer**

* * *

 **Beta-read by Starlight's Poet**

 **Chapter 5: Beacon Initiation (III)**

Ozpin and Glynda Goodwitch were on standby inside Beacon Academy's office, watching the initiation through dozens of drones' camera feed on the holographic screen of their computer.

Glynda fixed her glasses and exhaled before she glanced at her boss. "I'll say this again, headmaster…. We might end up not having any new first-year students if that man is in charge for evaluating them."

Ozpin simply hummed while his eyes kept plastered on the screen before him. After doing his own assessment of the performance of the prospective first-year students, the headmaster's mind drifted to a certain conversation he had with Claude Rose from the other night.

oXo

" _So let me get this straight, this whole Fox Hunt business is to allow you to assess the students by first-hand approach, to determine whether these children have what it takes to become huntsmen?" Ozpin - sitting on his desk, summarised Claude's proposition regarding the initiation._

" _...Correction, not just to 'become', but to learn in the first place, but… Yes, that's right." Claude nodded from across the table._

" _Then I don't see what's wrong about our usual setting." Glynda, standing next by Ozpin, retorted. "The task that we will assign to them will gauge their capability in the situation that huntsmen usually encounter on the field."_

" _You're not wrong; however, with my proposition, I can promise you this…" Claude's lips then grew into a smirk. "...The students who pass my initiation, will become one of the best, if not the best, huntsmen graduates in the history of Beacon Academy."_

 _Ozpin and Glynda raised their eyebrows at the bold declaration._

" _Besides…" Claude added. "...I'm still not convinced that enrolling Ruby this soon is a good idea. I want to see her potential by my own eyes - that camera feed about the heist earlier was not enough proof of your testament."_

 _Ozpin pondered over Claude's words - it was basically quality over quantity for the screening the new students. Truth to be told, the headmaster himself had been thinking of similar ideas for few times, but he could not pull it off yet, due the lack of necessary staff and manpower to facilitate something like a Fox Hunt. While Ozpin knew many excellent huntsmen that could help him - Glynda for example, the headmaster deemed that they were not exactly 'suitable' to properly, and fairly compete against freshmen._

 _Claude Rose, on the other hand - Ozpin had a feeling that he was the best man for the role; the idea alone had already amused him, if it was a man of his calibre, then perhaps…_

oXo

Ozpin and Glynda (begrudgingly from the latter) understood Claude's point; those who blatantly challenged him… were not ready to learn how to become huntsmen - the protectors of Remnant and its inhabitants, judging from how poorly they communicated with each other, responded to a challenge and approached an issue.

If this was how they fared against a handicapped person, they would die first, or end up letting other people got killed as soon as they were sent out to an actual field.

It would be better off to send them back to primary combat school to prepare them better. The paperwork that awaited would be a huge pain to deal with, but for the sake of greater result in the long run, Ozpin could wholeheartedly take it.

"Glynda, contact some second or third-year teams for a quick recovery assignment." Ozpin leaned back on his chair, sipping from his steaming mug. "...I believe some of our participants are no longer able to continue with this initiation."

The woman only sighed, but she tapped onto her tablet to obey the headmaster's instruction.

On the other hand, they both took notes of some other students that showed…. More promises in the initiation.

* * *

Pyrrha Nikos could not help but feel _excited_ \- for the lack of better term, as she watched the battle in front of her. No, calling what she saw a battle was not correct, it was one-sided beatdown.

"That's the guy we're supposed to… steal from?" Jaune Arc himself could not help but swallow a lump. Immediately he felt that he was far from adequate to pull this initiation off.

The so-called invincible girl was impressed at Sterling Cole's combat power, Pyrrha did not say anything as her green eyes were still trained at the spectacle before her. She thought that she had fought various kinds of opponent during her days at Mistral; and she found herself looking forward to face Sterling in the future.

"...Pyrrha?"

The girl in question blinked as she returned to reality, looking at Jaune who was looking expectantly at her. "Oh, well…" she found herself got embarrassed and inwardly scolded herself - she was not alone in this initiation. "...I think we need a new plan, perhaps some help…?" she said with uncertainty.

Jaune stared at his partner for few seconds before he nodded. "...Good idea. But for now, let's see what our guy is capable of."

Pyrrha inwardly relieved and at the same time, agreed with Jaune's assessment. If they wanted to pass the initiation, they needed as much information as they could about their opponent's ability

oXo

Blake was impressed at her supposedly 'target'; every hit was focused and straight to the point, every movement was not wasted, and he stood his ground whenever he had to defend against attacks head-on. Sterling's fighting kind of reminded him of a certain old partner in his better days, yet she could tell one defining distinction in Sterling's combat style.

"...Okay, so our guy is a bit of a badass. Sure, no pressure at all." Yang suddenly quipped, garnering a quick glance from Blake before she returned to observe the brawl.

The blonde girl had a point despite her sarcasm; the initiation was definitely no walk in the park.

Yang on the other hand, found herself biting her lower lip as her lilac eyes were glued at the sight of Sterling performing an earth-shattering rock-bottom on one poor guy she actually knew back in her days at Signal - Cardin Winchester was your typical bully; he once picked on Ruby and it only took a quick brawl and one detention for Yang to put him in his place.

"Rawr, mama likes..." Yang actually purred as her eyes gained a glint at her 'target'. Blake who was next to her almost rolled her eyes again and chose to focus on further observation.

oXo

From the perch of the tree they were using as hiding spot, Ren and Nora were watching the beatdown below them.

"Ren, Ren! Do you think he'll teach me how to do that move!?" Nora literally was jumping on the branch she was standing on.

"Nora, please keep quiet, you'll give our position away!" Ren tried his best to calm his partner/childhood friend down.

 _This is going to be a long day…_

oXo

"Whoa…"

Ruby Rose could not help but watch in awe, as her target of the initiation - Sterling Cole, easily decimated the mob of first-year students left and right. Not only he could win against superior numbers, Ruby noted that he did not even use his weapon - all of the fights had been done with bare hands.

Weiss narrowed her eyes analytically at the young man who was now seen dodging attacks from three hostiles without breaking a sweat. Perhaps she had underestimated him - every movement was fluid and with purpose, as if he was _still dancing_ , even in the midst of battlefield. It was a good thing that Weiss did not end up attacking, lest she would have had harder time of completing her own initiation. It would be better to observe and assess the fighting powers of her target and come up with a better plan.

Back to Ruby - for some reason, she could not tear her eyes away from the sight of Sterling's fight; her mind drifted back to the day when she witnessed a hero up-close. No, it was different; the combat style she saw in Qrow Branwen, when he rescued her and her sister from grimm attack all those years ago, was way too different than Sterling. No, that was not the issue anyway - what really confused her was, why was her mother's face suddenly popping up in her mind?

Ruby's thoughts were interrupted by Weiss' voice. "Ruby, hurry up! That guy is currently after some stragglers retreating towards the deeper parts of the temple ruins!"

Snapping back to reality, Ruby saw Weiss had already gone out from her hiding spot and was running in front of her. "Coming!" the young girl shouted back as she quickly followed suit.

* * *

There were three young men running through the stony ruins to avoid their pursuers. As they caught their breaths, they realised that they had bitten something that they could not chew. They thought it would be simple; gang up on the guy and won their prize to enter the prestigious Beacon Academy, and they were terribly wrong.

They were the only survivors; the rest of the students that agreed to cooperate, as well as their de facto leader - Cardin had seemingly down for the count.

"Wha- what the hell is that guy!?" a young man with light-brown hair wielding a sword-revolver hybrid - Dove Bronzewing wheezed out.

"Don't ask me!" a young man with a mohawk - Russel Thrush, said as he kept himself standing with his hands pressed on his knees. "...That guy fought like a fuckin' machine, and he barely broke a sweat!"

"I think…" Dove and Russel turned to see another member of their 'group', a halberd-wielding man with dark blue neck-length hair - Sky Lark. "I think we should fight back."

"Are you crazy!?"

"Fuck that!"

Both Dove and Russel replised simultaneously. Nevertheless, Sky did not stop as he took a quick break by leaning on a nearby stone wall. "...Don't you guys see?! The table has been turned against us! We might as well facing him before he picks us one by-!"

BAM!

Suddenly, a fist burst out from the wall Sky leaned on, colliding square with his face. Dazed from impact, Sky found the offending limb suddenly grabbed him by his armour, and yanked him hard enough so his head landed on the unforgiving wall. Dazed even more, Sky could not do anything as whoever on the other side kicked the wall hard enough until it collided with Sky's entire frame.

"What the-!?"

Dove and Russel turned to see 'Sterling' stood a few feet away from them. The former quickly aimed his gun-sword at him, but Sterling, or Claude to be precise, was faster; the veteran closed the distance, swatted the blade's trajectory - just in time when the the sword fired a bullet, and delivered a solid punch to Dove's gut. Not even giving Dove a chance to double over in pain, Claude threw him stumbling towards Russel, forcing the two to stumble even further towards another wall.

"Hey-!"

Before Russel could have told Dove to get off him, Claude was already running to tackle them both, all the way through a couple of more walls, and finally threw them off to plummet on the unforgiving ground, bouncing some more until they hit another ruins.

Satisfied at his initial ambush, Claude grinned as he walked towards his opponents.

oXo

Wobbling out from the stone wall that almost crushed him in daze, Sky shook his dizziness away as he learned what happened. "...Forget this, I'm out." he quickly ran off somewhere else, hoping he could come to some kind of…. 'Alternative' during his retreat.

As he made his way through the maze-like (almost) ruins, Sky ran into a familiar face. "Cardin?!"

The tall brunette was looking rather winded, but otherwise he was firmly on his feet. "Sky! Where the hell have you been?! Where are Dove and Russel?"

Sky looked around in panic; he honestly just wanted to escape - screw the initiation and Beacon, he was not going to face that guy if his ass was to be handed to him again. On the other hand, he highly doubt that his apparent partner would let him walk away scott-free.

Therefore, Sky made another decision on the fly. "Dove and Russel are fighting our fox! I, err…. I was just looking for you! Come to think of it, are the others with you?" he looked over Cardin's shoulder.

"Some senior teams came down on us and started collecting those who were still out of it. Something about 'securing the students and releasing them once they got back into fighting shape'." Cardin spat out. "...Took me a while to convince them that I'm still good to go. Anyway, let's go! Like hell I'm gonna fail this stupid initiation!" he gave Sky a quick pat on Sky's shoulder as he ran off towards the sounds of battle.

As he watched Cardin's retreating back, Sky was tempted to just run away. However, Cardin just had to stop to look back at him. "Come on, man! What are you standing around for!? Get your ass here before I make you!"

" _...Fuck!"_ not wanting to anger his de facto leader, Sky hissed as he reluctantly ran after Cardin.

oXo

"Whoa!"

BAM!

Russel just ducked in time to dodge a sizeable rubble flying over his head and hit Dove's frame behind him in the process - courtesy of Claude.

After hurling the rock, Claude ran towards them, skilfully avoiding Russel's panic slashes and got right in between Russel and the still-disoriented Dove. Shooting his hands towards the two boys' respective throats; ceasing their movements with suffocation for a second and he proceeded to bump their heads together with a loud thud.

With both first-years could not make things out properly, Claude immediately seized the opening.

He proceeded to throw several attacks alternately between the two; a hook at Dove's stomach, a straight at Russel's jaw, and a high-kick at Dove's temple; which caused the latter to fall to the ground, no longer able to keep up.

Russel gritted his teeth as soon as he saw Claude was on him again. Still not using his weapon - Claude parried Russel's blades, even managed to knock one dagger away from his hand. Claude then proceeded with an elbow strike right on Russel's side, eliciting a pained grunt, and followed with several combo-punch to the face until Claude finished with a knee-strike on Russel's lower abdomen, forcing the boy to cough out air and saliva.

 _Well, it was not finished yet_ \- when Claude's knee forced Russel's body to lift up from the ground for a second, the former grabbed the latter's airborne frame and slammed him on the ground, leaving Russel completely vulnerable under his mercy…. Or not. To add the salt on the injury, Claude showed no mercy until the end as he slammed his fist on Russel's exposed crotch, hard enough to crack the ground beneath, and finally finished with another kick on the same spot, sending Russel's body away all the away to crash another ruins - the boy was later seen unconscious on the ground with his hands clutching his nether region and his mouth frothing in agony.

Claude let out a breath at his handiwork; now those two had been taken care of, all he needed to do was to stick around a bit longer until Beacon's recovery team came to collect the students - if they were actually no longer to continue.

He moved his neck around, popping out few creaks and stretched his limbs a bit. He stared at his palm and grimaced slightly; only this much and he found himself sweating. "I'm out of practice…" Claude made a note to himself.

Looking back at the initiation so far, Claude was rather disappointed; most of the students he encountered so far were bunch of scrubs - those kinds of people who had not understood what it really meant to be huntsmen - the danger, risk and responsibility that followed with the title.

Even with handicaps, Claude did not put much effort in fending off his pursuer. Hell, he did not even use Shatter Storm on them - everything was done with a good ol' hand-to-hand.

"...HEY!"

Claude blinked and turned around to see Cardin and Sky standing before him. "Remember me, motherfucker!?" the former shouted deviantly, while the latter seemed hesitant for some reason.

Claude smirked; at least there were some who refused to go down that easily. The one holding a mace was the most boastful, but perhaps he was not all just a hot air. Claude might had to give him some credit for his tenacity. _"Let's see how long they can keep up…"_ Claude simply cracked his knuckles, rolled his shoulders and neck, as he walked towards Cardin and Sky.

However, at the advancing form of Sterling Cole, Cardin was the only one who responded by charging at him, while Sky was still rooted on his spot.

Ignoring the lack of his partner, Cardin roared as he swung down his mace. Claude easily side-stepped to dodge - _the boy was clearly exhausted, his movement was getting sloppy_ ; and countered with a solid haymaker to Cardin's cheek, followed with a hook on Cardin's back. The brunette growled as he swung his mace horizontally towards Claude's head, which the man simply ducked and countered with a knee on his gut and another hook on Cardin's other cheek. Stumbling and swirling around on his feet from the impact of Claude's hit, Cardin pushed on as he swung his mace upward - which Claude easily caught mid-way with both hands and proceeded to twist the offending limb, eliciting a cry from Cardin as his arm was constricted.

Keeping his hold on Cardin's offending arm, Claude drove his foot to the back of Cardin's knee to force him onto the ground, and finished by launching him away with a solid kick to the face.

Seeing Cardin's body plummeting away, Claude easily noticed Sky who was trying to ambush him from the top of a structure. With desperate cry, Sky jumped with his halberd raised on Claude, but the latter easily caught the former before the weapon could have touched him, and proceeded to throw him hard at Cardin's direction.

"Oh, come on!" Sky cried out as his body bounced off the unforgiving earth.

Claude raised his eyebrows when he saw Cardin slowly stood up behind Sky's downed body. _"He's actually still getting up..."_ he thought, slightly impressed at Cardin's endurance. Then again, it was clear as day that the tall brunette was on his last leg.

"...Okay, I guess that's enough for now." deciding to finish things, Claude ran towards Sky, who was still on fours from sheer exhaustion.

"Huh-!?" Sky did not have a chance to respond as Claude kicked him _hard_ , launching his body all the way to crash at Cardin. The taller boy fell down to the ground again, and while Sky's body was still airborne from the collision, the last thing Sky saw was Claude's gleaming silver eyes, as the man's hand pulled his airborne body to him by foot, and finish by slamming his fist down right on Sky's face.

BAM!

The ground caved in into a small crater as soon as Sky's frame hit the ground. Claude huffed as he examined his handiwork one more time. Finally, the four - Cardin, Russel, Dove and Sky were knocked out, thus signing their defeat.

Well, not yet, in fact; if by any chance those four managed to recover before the initiation ended, they always had a chance to enrol into Beacon Academy. But with how much Claude had kicked their asses, their chances were rather slim.

Claude took another breath yet again. "I'm really, _really,_ out of practice..." he cursed under his breath at himself. He considered to use his Semblance - after all, Ozpin and Glynda only asked him not to use the offensive and/or destructive aspect of his power. Then again, it only reinforced the fact that he was losing his touch.

Suddenly, a flash appeared in his mind; Claude turned to see the unconscious body of Cardin Winchester. "Winchester… Right, I remember now." he mumbled. It was the same surname of a certain bully who used to pick on Barty and Summer back in his academy days. The prick was all bark with a little bite; sure he was big, tough and could take punishments, but that was all.

It appeared that the apple did not fall from the tree - Claude strangely felt satisfied that he had put another Winchester in his place.

Stretching out his body once again, Claude then remembered that he had yet to encounter several other faces.

* * *

"We won't make it with just two of us…" Jaune finally concluded as his mind mulling over about the threat-level that 'Sterling Cole' possessed.

While the blonde boy had doubts whether he actually deserved to even join the initiation, the other half part of his mind knew that there was no going back, he had to give his all or everything he had pitched into this whole ordeal would be for naught. "Let's go, Pyrrha." Jaune carefully moved away from his hiding position, with Pyrrha nodded and slowly followed after him.

As the two began to trek through the forest, Jaune used the only thing that he could contribute - his mind, as he recalled the memory about the brawl.

Pyrrha's mind drifted from Sterling to her partner in front of her. While she was surprised at Jaune's lack of talent in general combat department, she was also impressed at the amount of Aura he possessed when she unlocked it. Jaune's physical capability might be questionable, yet he impressed her again with his tactical thinking when assessing the situation.

Pyrrha found Jaune to be agreeable; both of them alone did not stand a chance against Sterling. Perhaps if she were to unleash her trump card for the world to see, they might make it through the initiation, but the risk of failure was still high due to the nature of initiation itself; her partner had made a sound plan for them to retreat and reconsider their strategy.

Smiling at her partner's good head on his shoulders, Pyrrha had a feeling that she would have an enjoyable year, should she made it to Beacon.

Then, after few minutes of running through the forest, hoping to see the other students, Jaune and Pyrrha finally ran into a pair of a boy in green and white, as well as a girl in pink. The four remained standing on their spot and the atmosphere became somewhat awkward for a second, until Ren decided to break it.

"I… take you have witnessed the thing earlier?" nobody needed to be told about what 'thing' Ren was referring to.

Jaune and Pyrrha only glanced at one another, and back to the pair, where the girl in pink was flashing them a friendly, yet eager smile. Finally, the former chose to reply. "...Want to team up? By the way, my name's Jaune, and this is Pyrrha."

The redhead waved her hand and gave a friendly smile on cue. "Hello, there."

oXo

"...Is it weird if I'm feeling hot and bothered at the moment?"

Blake squinted her amber eyes at Yang's dreamy face as the two were trekking through the forest - planning to find other students to cooperate with, preferably the latter's younger sister.

"...Really, now?" the girl in black drawled dryly. "Yang, focus. Now's _really_ not the time." Over the time Blake had spent with her partner, she got to learn that Yang was the type who did not hesitate to seek thrills - confident and straight-forward, which allowed her to easily come up with innuendos and remarks that might be…. _misleading_.

"I know, I know, but did you see how much butts did that guy kick? That's not something you see everyday. Especially that crotch-shot, that's an epic one." Such as now, the blonde girl's attention was definitely directed at the 'fox' they were supposed to hunt in this initiation.

"Let's just… find your sister already." Blake finally said with a sigh. Although, she had to admit; Sterling Cole was undoubtedly formidable. After watching the spectacle of the man single-handedly defeated the roaster of first-years, Blake and Yang agreed that coming at him with only two of them was suicidal. Thus, they decided to team up with at least two or more students.

oXo

On the contrary to the others, Weiss and Ruby believed that it was a perfect chance. As ironic as it sounded in regards of Sterling Cole's situation, according to her uncle/mentor's teachings - _a hunter's most vulnerable moment is the moment he caught his prey_.

Ruby was watching Sterling through the scope of her Crescent Rose. He was looking winded, exhausted; he just took down four students and his posture showed that he just began his quick break. _"Just a little more…"_ she thought as she narrowed her eyes through her scope.

Weiss, however, was actually still a tad skeptical about what they were about to do. It was too risky; if Sterling was capable of defeating a mob of first-year students without much effort, what both of them alone could possibly do? Then again, Ruby's argument about the vulnerable moment had some merit; Sterling was indeed winded, and a surprise attack by two students was definitely _not the first thing_ that he would expect. Besides, worse comes to worst, they could just retreat after learning a considerable amount of information about Sterling's battle power - she had more than enough tricks under her sleeve should the need arose.

Ruby finally got a visual on the target - a set of black and white chess pieces strapped on Sterling's torso. She glanced at Weiss and the two shared a nod, the time had come for them to launch their plan.

Ruby took a deep breath, focusing her mind into one single shot - the one shot they could not afford to miss if they wanted the whole thing to work out. Her finger slowly reached for the trigger, her silver eyes were trained at Sterling's torso.

It took around less than a minute, but Ruby felt it longer as she kept her focus, tuning out any other unnecessary stimuli that could mess her aiming. Next to her, Weiss bit her lower lip, tightening her grip on her rapier. She was crouching, ready to launch herself as soon as Ruby gave her the signal.

Listening to her own heartbeat as Ruby carefully aimed at the relic, she placed her finger around the trigger as soon as a white knight piece landed in her sight.

* * *

BANG!

"What-!?"

Claude could only turn his head at the sound of the gunshot, and at the same time, he felt something hit his chest - forcing his aura to take the brunt of the shock. Grunting in pain from the impact, Claude saw a white rook piece had fallen off his armour.

He widened his eyes in alarm, and he automatically rose his shield and sword to protect himself. He looked around - the nearest trees that could be used as cover was at least 300 meters away, yet whoever sniped him had enough accuracy to hit _precisely_ the strap that kept the 'relics' on his armour.

" _That's one helluva marksmanship!"_ Claude could not help but smirked in anticipation. He did a quick look-around, steadily walking towards the spot where the rook piece was laying on the ground.

BOOM!

However, as soon as Claude took the first step, he suddenly found the ground next to him suddenly burst in explosion. Claude was lucky enough that the explosion occurred on the side where his shield could easily protect him from the blast, and as if to make matters worse, Claude was forced to take a defensive position as more explosion occurred around him, kicking up dust cloud to obscure the vision of his surrounding.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The ensuing explosions caused his aura to drop even more as his shield could not cover him from attack in his blindspot. Claude had to give whoever was ambushing him more credits in tactical department, and at the same time, inwardly berating himself for falling for a huntsman's rookie mistake. _You are never in the clear as long as you are on the field_ \- Claude realized that he had lowered his guard after he had defeated the four students that attacked him earlier, and his next assailant was capitalizing his moment of victory.

Back to the situation at hand - if Claude had thought correctly, he predicted there would be at least one or two person coming to his location to retrieve the discarded relic while his own vision was robbed by the dust cloud around. Knowing that he could not treat the current fight like the previous one, Claude's lips grew into a grin as he tightened the grip on his sword. It was time for him to step-up his game.

He waited for few moments, lowering his sword until the tip of his blade touched the ground. He slowly took a breath, carefully so he did not accidentally inhaled dust, and recomposed himself. His silver eyes darted around at the earth-coloured clouds around him - searching for the slightest hint of movement.

As soon as his eyes caught something, his calm expression broke into another grin. He had waited long enough - he swung the sword horizontally in a wide, 360 degree arc. The sheer force behind his swing produced a gust of wind that practically blew the dust around him away, returning the vision of his surrounding.

His silver eyes then spotted four familiar faces staring at him in shock and panic.

oXo

Weiss blinked as things went wrong; the sound of the gunfire did not come from her partner, it came from another location away from her. She turned to look at Ruby, whom in return was looking as baffled as her.

"Err… That wasn't me."

"Yes, I know that, Ruby." Weiss shot back and the two girls returned their eyes on Sterling, only to see several explosions erupted around their target.

As the dust cloud rose up to the air, Ruby and Weiss stared at each other for few seconds before they came to the same decision. Bursting out from their hiding spot, the two girls ran as fast as they could towards the dust cloud. It was not the ideal opportunity they preferred, but it was still an opportunity nonetheless.

WOOSH!

Suddenly, the cloud in front of them blew up, the mass of dust and grime surged forward and hit them in the face. Covering their faces, Ruby and Weiss slowly regained their vision to see Sterling, as well as two other faces.

The first one was a young man clad in green and white. Weiss and Ruby saw him during the briefing, they did not talk to him, but they caught his name in the passing during their morning rituals - Ren or something. Behind him however, was more familiar. Jaune Arc was right behind him with his sword and shield ready, the two of them were only few steps away from the white rook piece.

Alas, they did not have any chance to exchange any word since Sterling suddenly bolted from his spot.

Ren grew pensive as he crossed his arm fast enough to guard himself from the shield that was slammed right at him, knocking him a good distance away.

"Ren!" Jaune yelled in panic at the sight of his comrade getting knocked away, but he soon saw something else coming from the corner of his eyes. "Whoa!" he raised his guard - or to be precise, both of his arms out of reflex to meet Sterling's blade swung at him.

CLANG!

While Jaune managed to prevent a direct hit on his person, the force from Sterling's attack was still strong enough to throw him off his feet away from his objective. The two boys recovered to see Sterling was standing over the relic. "That was a close one. Better luck next time, boys." he said with a smile on his face.

As Claude was addressing Jaune and Ren, he ended up pausing - his eyes widened at the former; when he gave another look, Claude was thoroughly impressed at the sheer amount of aura that Jaune Arc possessed around his frame. _Did the kid just unlock his aura recently? Perhaps that's an Arc for you, and I thought Gilles' reserve was huge. No wonder Oz wanted to give him a chance._

However, Claude was too engrossed at Jaune's aura that he ended up getting caught by another surprise; he had to spin on his heel and use his Shatter Storm to block another attack that exploded upon contact on his shield. He looked over to see Ruby with smoke coming out from the barrel of her Crescent Rose aimed at him.

Then, to his surprise again, Claude realised that the shot from Ruby was another distraction for the actual attack - a circular pattern like a snowflake suddenly glowed below him, and his legs were encased in blocks of ice. _"This glyph…. Only belongs to…!"_ Claude's knowledge caught up and he looked up to see Weiss were pointing her rapier at him.

While Claude's movement was restricted once again, Ruby seized the opening as she used her Semblance, which allowed her to move in high velocity, while at the same time leaving rose petals on her trail. The man only saw a red blur ran through between his legs, swiping the rook piece in the process.

Ruby appeared behind Claude, the relic now in her hands. Then, she turned to Ren and Jaune, and tossed the relic at the latter. "Here!"

Jaune could barely catch the relic, he honestly did not really mind if the girl just took it away for herself. Still, he and Ren ended up nodding in gratitude at her. "Thanks!"

"What are you doing!?" However, Weiss was not happy with Ruby's decision. "That's our ticket to Beacon!"

Jaune, Ren and especially Ruby slightly flinched at Weiss' shout; even Claude blinked at her tone. "But… But they aimed for it first! I thought we're supposed to help them!"

"We have our own enrolment at stakes!" Weiss shot back.

As the two girls argued, Claude could barely hold down his smile. On one hand, Weiss had a point, the most logical move was to just withdraw with their prize at hand while Claude was still immobilized. On the other hand, he had to applaud Ruby's selflessness, he admitted it was stupid, but it was still an admirable, yet rare trait to have.

Then again, Ozpin never explicitly expressed that the whole initiation was a competition.

Ruby flinched even more at Weiss' argument. She looked between her partner and the boys, closed her eyes for a second before she opened them, revealing a conviction in her silver orbs. "But simply leaving them here is not right! We are going to be huntresses! Putting others' need first is our job!"

At that moment, Claude could not help but lightly snorted in amusement. _That's_ so _like Summer_.

Ruby's words only infuriated Weiss further, but the latter could not say anything in return. Jaune and Ren, on the other hand, glanced at each other and shared a nod. Soon, Claude turned his head enough to see the two boys were charging at him, capitalizing the moment of his move-restriction.

...Except Claude was not completely immobilized.

Grinning at the boys' initiatives to cease an opening, Claude simply mustered the strength in his legs and forcefully broke free from his ice restraints, catching both Ren and Jaune in surprise by landing a solid kick to launch the former away and raised his shield to block a sword strike from the latter.

"Ren!" Jaune was worried at his friend for a second, and it was a mistake to divert his attention away as his face was met with the metallic surface of Claude's shield.

BONK!

"Ugh!" Jaune staggered back while his hand nursing his throbbing nose. His aura was thankfully took the brunt of the impact and prevented any bleeding, but it was still enough to leave his head in daze.

Jaune could only widen his eyes when he saw Claude was already on him, ready to land another blow…

Only for Claude to pause when he sensed something else was coming at him. He followed the sound and the flow in the air to trace the attack was coming from _above_.

BOOM!

Claude then bent his knees and raised his shield over him fast enough to block a mass being slammed upon him. The sheer force of the impact caused the ground beneath him to cave in.

It did not stop there; while Claude was still struggling under the sheer pressure of his latest assailant, he saw from the corner of his eyes, a red-haired girl in bronze armour running with a rifle aimed at him.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Few shots were fired, and Claude used his blade to parry the incoming bullets, and at the same time, pushed his shield forward to get his previous assailant off him. The assailant landed next to Ren, revealing a girl with orange hair clad in pink, wielding a giant hammer; she was sporting what akin to be a blood-thirsty grin.

The girl in bronze armour had arrived at his spot and proceeded to land a drop kick on him. Claude immediately jumped backwards to lessen the impact on his torso. Rolling back, Claude returned to his feet to find himself facing six people - Ruby, Weiss, Jaune, Ren, and most recently, Pyrrha Nikos and Nora Valkyrie.

Claude evaluated his opponents with trained eyes and things began to fall into places. Jaune, Pyrrha, Nora and Ren were the group who ambushed him earlier, with the second one firing the first shot; and while he was not sure how, he had a feeling that Nora was the one responsible for the explosion. He was not sure who was partnered with whom, but two of them had secured their enrolment into Beacon…. Unless Claude was able to snatch it away from them again - Ozpin did say the pair needed to return the relic, or keep it to themselves until the initiation was over.

The students kept their eyes on Claude warily, noting that the young man was now equipped with his sword and shield. Shield up, feet set firm on the ground and tight grip at the sword pointed at his opponents - his form was almost flawless with little to no openings, and everyone knew that they probably would not survive in direct combat against him. Their only option was to withdraw.

However, Claude's silver eyes clearly indicated that he had no intention to let them walk away so easily.

"You know, I heard the fox in a fox-hunt is not supposed to fight back." Weiss decided to start up a conversation, hoping to learn something - anything from her target.

"Says who?" Claud scoffed in reply. "In every hunt, fox hunt or whatever, there is always a chance where the role between the hunter and the hunted can switch before you know it… Like now." he smiled lightly as his eyes carefully scanned every movement from the first years in front of him. "...Now what will you do after finding your prey fighting back? Your response to this situation will be evaluated by the teachers at Beacon."

The students glanced at one another, they were rather reluctant, but retreat was their best option. Then again, could all of them escape? For all intents and purposes, they might as well stood their ground and fight with their all.

However, another intervention came in a form of a kusarigama, a chain sickle, only with the chain was replaced with a black ribbon, and the sickle had an appearance of a black blade attached to a handgun.

Claude easily blocked the incoming weapon with his sword, and saw the weapon returned to Blake Belladonna, who was running swiftly from his right. Next to her was Yang Xiao Long, who was also running while shooting a couple of fire-dust rounds from her gauntlets.

Claude raised up his shield to protect himself as soon as the projectiles made contact with the ground around him.

BOOM! BOOM!

"Go! We'll hold him off!" Blake shouted at the six students who confronted Claude earlier, as she and Yang lunged at Claude and the three engaged in a close-combat.

Everyone else found themselves conflicted - was it really okay to just abandon the duo who were willing enough to buy them time to escape? Ruby was the one who was most conflicted compared to the others, since it was her own sister who was fighting with Sterling.

"Yang! You can't win against him like this!" Ruby shouted in warning.

"We'll be fine, just go! We'll manage somehow!" Yang simply replied as she blocked a shield to her face, while Blake herself barely held herself against Sterling's sword. The former managed to spot an opening and threw several shots with her jabs at Claude's head, which he easily dodged by manoeuvring his body around Blake and Yang's onslaught, alternating between evasion, defense and counter.

Ruby bit her lip in anxiety as she watched and she looked pleadingly at her comrades. Jaune and his team glanced at one another for a second before they nodded at her, Weiss was still looking reluctant, but she did not object nonetheless.

Back to the battle, Claude was still weathering the onslaught brought by Yang and Blake simultaneously. From Claude's view, the two worked together well enough for being partners recently, enough to force him into defensive for a while.

In the end, however, Claude managed to spot an opening between the lapse of the two girls' combinations. Ducking and rolling to avoid a horizontal slash at his head from Blake, he raised up in time to sheath his sword into his shield, which he used to block an axe-kick from Yang. His now-free right hand shot out, sneaking right through the blonde's guard and hit her throat, disorienting as well as choking her in the process.

While Yang was busy regaining her breath, Claude engaged Blake - who was now sporting both of her sword and bladed sheath in dual wielding. At first, they were evenly matched; however, despite the size of his weapons, Claude slowly pressuring Blake into defensive, and in the momentary lapse from the girl, he managed to hook the tip of his blade into the rectangular guard of Blake's sheath, and with a quick motion of his arm, Claude threw the sheath off Blake's hand into the air.

The girl panicked for a second, but she returned to focus a second later. That second however, was used by Claude to intercept Yang who tried to blind-side him by clashing his heels on her temple, before quickly returned to deal with Blake once again.

Blake, her sheath thrown away - although not too far, had to use her only blade clash against Claude's own steel. However, she soon was overpowered even faster, as Claude managed to knock Blake's blade away with his own, creating an opening. He also noticed Yang was also running at him with her fist raised, and he proceeded to perform a drop-kick on Blake. Then, while his kick landed, he also used Blake's body as a make-shift spring for him to perform a backward somersault and planted another drop-kick on Yang.

Claude landed perfectly on the ground at the same time Yang and Blake landed on their rear. The blonde began to seeth as her hair began to flare up, her Semblance doing its work. However, before the fight could have resumed, several more explosions erupted from the ground around Claude.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

"Yang, Blake! Meet us back in the trees! We need a plan!"

The aforementioned girls blinked at the smoke screen as they heard Ruby's voice; Yang growled in contemplation, her lilac eyes turned red in colour between the smoke screen and the nearest mass of trees. With a loud huff, she decided to trust her little sister and ran off. Blake herself did not waste any time as she retrieved her Gambol Shroud and followed suit.

When the smoke cleared up, Claude was alone. He contemplated to give chase, but decided against it. A relic had been stolen; Claude chose to let the students few seconds head-start as a sign of respect.

Besides, it was only one relic, which meant only a pair of students who would be able to enrol into Beacon. Judging from the interaction they shared with one another, it was rather unlikely for the pair to abandon the others to finish the initiation.

Then again, possibility was still a possibility; Claude would have to hunt down whoever pair that held the white rook piece, either Jaune Arc or Lie Ren, whom probably had a different respective partner altogether.

In the end, the decision was simple; Claude took another breath as he dashed towards the trees.

He had a relic-thief to hunt.

* * *

 **Please review! :)**


	7. Beacon Initiation (IV)

**RWBY: The Redeemer**

* * *

 **Beta by Starlight's Poet**

 **Chapter 6: Beacon Initiation (IV)**

Claude was kneeling on the ground of the forest, his fingers brushing against a footprint carved on the soft grassy soil. The track was barely fresh, but the strangest thing was that the tracks ended where he was at.

He looked up ahead from his position, the soft footpath was still stretched quite far, so how did the students not leave any tracks? It was either they could fly, Semblance in working, or he had been led into some kind of a trap.

Claude huffed as he stood up and scratched his head. _This is troublesome_ \- the students were equipped with a GPS that tracked his movement every half an hour, so even if Claude were to give chase, the students would easily shake him off.

There was an option to discard the transmitter… which he did not know where Ozpin and Glynda placed on him. His armour? His scroll? Satelites? That did not matter.

 _30-minute interval to ambush them… What a pain._

At this rate, at least Beacon would get two new additional first-year students. Should he just take it easy? Or should he bring the fight to them? While thinking his next course of action, Claude's thoughts drifted to evaluate those who fought him earlier.

Starting with the most recent ones - Blake Belladonna and Yang Xiao Long. If he had to say about those two's synergy, they were opposite, but the kind of opposite that went hand-in-hand like a magnet. Blake's fighting style was kind of focused on agility and precision, while Yang's was more focused on strength and brute force.

His expression went bitter for a second when he thought that both of their fighting style, if put together, was similar to _her_ ; agile, precise, strong. But in the end, both of them were still green. Yang in particular, her movement was so easy to read.

Next was Pyrrha Nikos and Nora Valkyrie - albeit he had yet to see the former's overall combat ability, her marksmanship had spoken enough volumes of her reputation. The latter, Claude could only say that the girl packed a mean punch behind her blows. A well-landed attack from her hammer could put him in a bad spot.

Then Claude's expression scowled slightly at his evaluation of Jaune Arc - while his aura reserve was impressive, Claude had yet to see any combat experience from the boy whatsoever. Sure, his application transcript was fabricated, but shouldn't he at least had some kind of training from his father before coming to Beacon? In the end, Claude chose to observe how Jaune would fare in this initiation a bit longer.

The next was the pair of Weiss Schnee and Ruby Rose - nothing much could be said yet about the former, except that she had an interesting method of using Dust. If his understanding about Schnee hereditary Semblance was correct, Weiss could be more versatile than he anticipated. As for her niece, her Semblance was similar like Summer, but instead of leaving a white trail, Ruby left red rose petals as she blitzed around with her power.

He could not say anything for Lie Ren yet - after all, he had not seen what Ren was truly capable of.

oXo

"How is the coast?"

"Clear, so far. The last map-scan showed that he was around over half a mile away, and going further from us. Our false leads are working."

The remaining students so far - Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang were currently discussing strategy with Jaune, Pyrrha, Ren and Nora; with Blake and Yang volunteering as look-outs. It was not difficult to shake their pursuer off; all they had to do was walk in a straight-line formation and used Weiss' glyph as footpath, preventing them to leave any tracks while gaining more distance.

"Ren, Nora. You guys can go back to Beacon first, y'know." Jaune offered to the pair, everyone else did not voice any objection either.

The pair in question blinked at the blonde boy's tone that sounded sincere, and after sharing a glance to each other, both Ren and Nora returned the look. "...No. To begin with, we got our relic thanks to you guys. It's our turn to return the favour now." the former replied, followed with an eager nod from the latter.

"But-"

"Jaune."

Jaune turned to see Weiss who just interrupted her. "We need every help that we can get if we want to pass this initiation." she firmly spoke. When Jaune only looked down without any retort, she then turned to address Ren and Nora. "...Thank you, both of you." she said with sincerity in her tone, which the pair returned with another nod.

"Now, back to the issue at hand." Weiss then looked at everyone. "How do you suggest we… take our relics from this Sterling Cole?"

"We… need him to stop moving." Jaune spoke. When he received looks from the others, his expression panicked somewhat. "Well… I'm just throwing out ideas."

"Jaune's right." everyone then turned to Ruby. "Sterling is too strong for us to fight head-on on equal ground. We just have to take a relic from him, right? Just stop him from moving, snatch the relic, and cheese it."

"Don't forget that Sterling will still hunt us down." Weiss added. "After all, the headmaster said that we need to return to Beacon post or keep the relic until the initiation is over. I believe that's the point."

"We still have…. A bit less than three hours left. Do you think we can hold that long, assuming we manage to steal a relic?" Blake asked from her position.

"We have to, this is our only chance." Jaune said with resolute look. "...For now, let's see what we got. Aside from the fact that he's strong, does anyone learn anything that we can use against our fox?"

At Jaune's question, everyone glanced at one another before they merely shrugged. However, one hand then raised - belonged to Pyrrha. "Um… I still think Jaune's suggestion about stopping his movement is a decent idea."

"Perhaps, but how?" Weiss asked skeptically. "I only have so many ice Dust to stop him from moving, then again, it's save to assume that it won't hold him for long."

"I… take none of us have a Semblance that can freeze one's movement?" Ruby meekly asked.

"...A what?" Jaune found himself asking.

"Well, y'know? Our own superpowers?" Ruby replied. "LIke my speed, for example?"

Deciding to play along, Jaune acted as if he knew. "...Oh, right! Semblance, yeah, I almost forgot about it, heheh..." he sheepishly rubbed his head. "Well…. Since we are on that topic, what are you powers? Semblance, I mean. We probably can come up with something from that."

Everyone glanced around once again, contemplating Jaune's question. While it did not have any real sense of urgency, matters of Semblance were considered as personal topic. Then again, with their enrolment to Beacon at stake, not to mention that they would also have to work together, side by side, for at least the next four years, they might as well open up to each other.

"I… guess I can start with mine." Weiss then relented as her hand conjured a small white glyph.

Thus, the strategy meeting began by everyone sharing what their Semblance could do.

* * *

Another hour had passed.

Holding a pair of small binoculars he brought with him earlier, Claude was looking over the forest from on top of a hill. He only had 10 minutes to find and ambush a student before his position would be broadcasted to the rest of them.

After he could not find any further tracks, his only option was to find a higher ground and hope to spot any movement that was not wildlife or grimm. His right hand kept holding the binoculars in front of his eyes, while his left hand was on his waist, the fingers tapping anxiously.

Claude huffed and bit his lips in impatience, and as if his wishes were granted, he caught a movement between the gaps of the trees below. _"Gotcha!"_ he grinned and quickly jumped off the hill to give chase; it did not matter if it was the one who stole a relic or not, he just wanted to seize the chance.

Running as fast as he could, Claude felt himself lucky once again when he recognised the back of his target - one of the boys who stole a relic, Lie Ren. It appeared that Ren also noticed his pursuer, as he began to pick up his speed as well.

The game of cat and mouse did not last long as the two finally arrived at another clearing in the forest. When Claude found Ren abruptly stopped, his instinct suddenly flared up, warning him that something else was up. Nonetheless, there was only one way to find out.

"So…. Mind telling me why would you stop all of sudden?" Claude decided to strike a conversation.

"Because it is pointless to keep running from someone of your calibre. You'll catch me sooner or later." Ren simply said as he turned around to face him. "...Might as well getting this done and over with." he then whipped out a pair of twin green pistols from his sleeves; the guns had sickle-blades attached vertically under the barrels.

"Hm… Gutsy, I'll give you that." Claude also brandished his Shatter Storm as a sign of respect. "But no offence, do you really think you can beat me alone?"

In return, Ren only smiled knowingly as he also fell into his own stance. The gesture, however, caused Claude's instinct to go off. He then suddenly felt something moving…. From above again.

"YEEEHAW!"

This time, however, Claude had anticipated an ambush - albeit barely, and quickly rolled out of the way to dodge an ambush by Nora Valkyrie.

BOOM!

As soon as Nora's hammer - Magnhild, connected to the ground, the small part of the clearing literally exploded, throwing up chunks of rocks and debris everywhere. In the midst of dust cloud, Claude got back on his feet to see Nora and Ren were now standing side-by-side, their weapons raised at him.

However, Claude noticed a shift from the smoke next to him, only to find Yang suddenly burst out from the smoke, delivering a haymaker on his cheek.

"Hyah!"

BAM!

Claude grunted as he stumbled lightly from the impact; even so, his eyes still managed to make out another incoming attack from the dust cloud - this time it came lower. Claude then mustered his lower body and his legs to force himself to jump and somersault in the air, to avoid Blake swinging her sword at his legs.

It was a bit chaotic exchange within the dust cloud, as Claude had to weather assaults from Ren, Nora, Blake and Yang successively. However, despite such coordinated attacks, the students chose to take turns instead of attacking altogether, due to lack of knowledge and understanding with each other - that allowed some leeway for Claude to turn the tables.

As soon as Claude dodged Blake's ambushes, he immediately recovered his footing and charged at Yang, who was about to go at him again. Moving faster than her, Claude seized the first hit by landing a solid drop-kick on Yang. The blonde brawler barely managed to block the attack with her both arms, yet the force from the impact was still enough to launch her away, crashing right into Nora and Ren who were positioned right behind her.

"Ugh…!"

With the three fell to the ground, Blake was left alone to engage Claude. The girl then switched to assume dual-wielding, a sword and a cleaver-sheath on each hand. The exchange did not last long, as Claude's taller figure soon overwhelmed the girl. Fortunately, Blake was skillful enough to exploit her smaller frame to dodge and sneak through Claude's attacks; then again, she could not land any definite hit either.

Alas, Claude mustered the strength of his limbs and outpaced Blake, suddenly appearing behind her. He swung his sword at her unprotected back, and when the blade made contact, Claude suddenly found the girl blurred away.

Claude blinked at the strange sight, then he quickly raised out his sword out of instinct to parry an incoming black blade from Blake, who appeared next to him. Claude then manoeuvred his blade to counter, yet his blade suddenly phased through the blurry image of Blake, before he suddenly found himself almost blindsided again; the process happened for several times.

" _Is this her Semblance? Shadow clones?"_ Claude could not help but muse. _"Heh… What a ninja."_ he found himself silently giggled at the thought.

Alas, Blake's aura reserves could not keep the charade forever; eventually, she could not afford to make another clone of herself as Claude finally bashed her away with his shield, sending her back to the group of Yang, Ren, and Nora.

Facing the four, Claude relaxed his posture slightly, but still ready to move at any moment's notice. "So…. Four of you against a lil' old me?" he began. Then, Claude suddenly gained a thought that he would like to try out, considering Ren was present. "Y'know, we still have some time before the initiation is over, and as far as I know, that guy over there has obtained a relic." he pointed his sword at Ren.

The other three girls glanced briefly at Ren, while at the same time wondering what Sterling was getting at.

"Let me make this clear to you again, those who will pass this initiation are those who can either get a relic back to Beacon post, or manage to hold on one until the time runs out." Claude stated. "So, with the fact that the guy over there and whoever his partner are ahead of the rest of you all, in mind…. If they are _willing_ to give their relic to another pair then the said pair will be the ones who will be likely enrol to Beacon." he then smirked when the students' eyes widened slightly in understanding.

"For example, if you ladies…" Claude then gestured to Yang and Blake. "...Were to ask the guy _nicely_ , and if he's also _nice enough_ to comply, which method would you prefer to get your ticket to Beacon? From me, or would you rather ask him _really nicely_ to give up his?" he gestured at Ren, while emphasizing the words 'nicely'.

The field was filled with silence as the students glanced at one another for a moment, before all of them returned Claude's smirk with their own. "Yeah, nice try, bub. But we prefer to get it from you." Yang said with roguish grin, as she bumped both of her fists together.

"Sacrificing our own comrades is heavily frowned upon in the Huntsmen Academy, isn't it?" Blake quipped. "...We refuse to be that kind of huntresses." she hardened her glare as she pointed her blade at Claude.

Claude blinked at the answer the four youngsters came up with, he scanned over them, Nora and Ren were also smirking at his failure in creating discord between the group. However, Claude suddenly grew a smile - the one that was filled with approval.

"...Well said." he nodded. "I guess as an apology, I have to take you all on more seriously, don't I?" he then resumed his stance once again, before he winked at Yang and Blake. "Though, just remember, ladies…. Hands above the waist." he said suggestively at the relics on his armour, which Blake only rolled her eyes and Yang scoffed playfully in return.

However, when Claude was about to charge, he suddenly found his body was slowly encased in another block of ice - this time the ice was enveloping his lower body, almost freezing him full.

"NOW!"

Before Claude could have reacted, more students suddenly burst out and charged at him, including the four that fought him earlier. The first one that actually slammed into him was Jaune Arc - ramming his shield right on his back, shattering his frozen bonds and forcing him to fall to the ground.

Few more roars and war-cries were heard, Claude suddenly found Yang, Blake, Nora and Ren also jumped on him, using their sheer body weight to pin him down. Claude growled under the pressure, and he suddenly felt several hands rummaging through his person.

Claude desperately tried to fend off the hands that tried to grab the relics on his armour. "What the-!? Hey, hey! Where are you touching!? I told you hands above the waist!" However, despite his protest, the students did not relent. Jaune, Yang and Blake were in charge of holding down his upper-half, with the former and second volunteering to snatch a relic, while Nora and Ren were in charge of holding Claude's legs.

While Claude could not get a clear view, he somehow could tell that it was Yang who was feeling him up, and she was having fun in doing it. _"Dirty little…!"_ growing a feral grin, he finally had enough and roared, breaking free through sheer brute force.

Jaune was unfortunate to have his face receiving a nasty back-hand from Claude while Yang and Blake quickly leapt away. Then, Claude managed to land a double kick - each heel on Nora and Ren respectively, launching the two away. Alas, when he checked upon his person once again, he found more relics had been taken.

"Yes! I got a cute little pony!" Claude turned to see Yang holding out a white knight piece, while on the other hand, Jaune managed to snag another rook piece.

The students did not revel in victory for long, as they immediately felt Sterling's glare on them - those who had a relic. However, Jaune only lightly smirked as he knew that their strategy had yet to end.

"Pyrrha, now!"

It was a simple strategy devised by eight students - using Ren as a bait, with Nora, Blake and Yang as his back-up; the four would divert Claude's focus on them, allowing the rest of the team to devise a trap. The ice that grew around Claude was Weiss' handiwork, using her ice-dust. Considering Jaune was the one with the tallest height, he was in charge of initiating the first strike in pinning down Claude, and the rest soon followed.

Again, everyone safely assume that amount of effort was not enough to earn them victory, thus the next trap; after sharing their powers, abilities and Semblances, Pyrrha was pointed as the game breaker against their fox.

The redhead jumped out from her cover of bushes, she rolled and ran to close the distance between her and Claude, and once she thought she was close enough, she shot her palm towards Claude.

"Hngh…!?" suddenly Claude found himself unable to move - it was as if his body was bound in shackles. He gave few tugs, and noticed that rather than his limbs, it was more his armour and vambraces that were keeping him in place.

He then turned to look at Pyrrha, who was still maintaining her stance on him. _A work of Semblance_ \- he noted as his eyes perceived some sort of black aura lining around Pyrrha's hands, and judging by the way his attires holding him, Claude could only come to one possible conclusion. _"Magnetism…. That's one mean Semblance against fellow huntsmen."_

Seeing Claude's vulnerable sight, the rest of them finally came out of hiding, believing they had won. It worked; it appeared all of Claude's attire had metals in it. All they had to do was snatch their relic and retreat.

Claude sighed as he held his head down - to think that he was outwitted by a bunch of initiates… When the students were regrouping and slowly approaching him, Claude made a decision; once the whole initiation was over, he would knuckle down and train himself back to shape.

Like hell he would lose so easily against a bunch of kids.

Pyrrha suddenly saw Claude's muscles tensed up, his limbs slowly moved away from the spot where she kept them with her Semblance. She then poured more of her aura into her polarity to strengthen her hold. "Um, guys….?" she gritted out. "You better wrap this up soon, he's…. Very strong."

Pyrrha's Semblance was by no means invincible - the strength of her magnetism depended on how much aura she used to fuel it. Considering that her aura reserve was not as abundant as Jaune, it was only a matter of time until she could not maintain her hold on Claude any longer.

Eight students, four pairs, and three relics had been retrieved; which meant they only had to grab one more relic and they could enrol to Beacon. Ruby and Weiss nodded at each other and made their ways towards their target.

On the other hand, Claude took a deep breath as he prepared a surprise of his own. While dealing with magnetism, his Semblance could perform a similar feat. Then again, the science behind polarity was not that simple to begin with, and in addition, it had been a long while since he used this particular trick.

When Pyrrha noticed sparks coming out from Sterling's frame, she suddenly felt something was interfering with the magnetic field she created. When she felt her hold weakening somewhat, was the moment she saw a smirk on Sterling's lips.

Pyrrha's green eyes widened as her instinct went on alert. "Ruby, Weiss! Stay back! Something's wrong!"

The whole atmosphere in the area was suddenly felt significantly heavier, forcing Ruby and Weiss abruptly halted their advances just in time; when Claude suddenly broke away from his spot. Everyone's expression went into shock when their fox sheathed his sword back to his shield, only for his weapon to transform into a great axe. However, what really alerted them was the bloodthirsty grin that adorned Claude's face, as well as the glint in his silver eyes.

Claude roared, and everyone could have sworn to see sparks of electricity flow and ran from his body through his weapon. He jumped with his axe raised high, and it was enough to tell everyone to just book it.

"INCOMING!"

Everyone made as much distance as possible when Claude's weapon hit the ground.

BOOM!

* * *

Back at Beacon Academy tower, Ozpin and Glynda watched the turn-out of events through the video feed in their office.

"Should we send out a warning... Perhaps stop him, headmaster?" Glynda sighed as she watched Claude's action on the screen.

However, she was not surprised when Ozpin only smirked a tad wider as he leaned his sight closer to the screen. "No, let's… observe a bit longer of how things will unfold for them."

oXo

Meanwhile, at another location of Emerald Forest, Peter Port heard the sound of explosion, followed with small vibrations through the air behind him. He flinched slightly at the seizure before he sighed into his ear-comm. "Barty, did you-"

[Yes, Peter. I felt that one…. I believe our leader's getting carried away… again.]

"Should we stop him?"

[Should we? Rather, _do we_ actually want to when he's like this?]

"Hm…. You may have a point."

[If it's any consolation, I don't think Claude would go overboard with the students, as hyped as he is.]

"Let's… just hope we will still have new students by the time semester begins." Peter sighed once again as he resumed his guard duty.

oXo

Everyone's vision was enveloped in blurry images of light-flashes, shockwaves, and debris flying around. When they opened their eyes, their surroundings were enveloped in a large dust cloud from the sheer force behind Sterling's blow to the ground.

There was another issue; the explosion and shockwave that followed also forced everyone to split up, making them lost sight of each other, looking around the dust cloud like headless chickens.

"What the hell was that!?"

"Weiss! Where are you!?"

"Ruby!? Blake!?"

"Everyone! Regroup!"

"Nora! Are you okay!?"

"I'm good!"

"Jaune? Jaune!?"

In the midst of panic, the initiates ended up shouting in search for each other, allowing Claude some leeway to pin-point their location.

While searching for her partner, Pyrrha suddenly received an excruciating pain across her face. Sterling just burst out from the smoke in front of her, caught her head and slammed his knee right in her face. Grunting in pain, she was stumbling back, barely managed to keep herself on her feet.

However, Claude did not finish there - while her head was still throbbing from the knee-strike, Pyrrha could not defend herself as Claude stomped his foot on the ground, hard enough to crack the earth, and planted his fist deep into her gut. For a good measure, Claude also twist his fist like a drill as he pushed his knuckles onto her armoured abdomen.

Pyrrha's eyes bulged out at the sheer pain constricted in her gut. The force of Sterling's punch was further reinforced by his footwork, causing her to spit out few bits of saliva and stomach acid as the air inside her body was forcefully taken out. When her body dropped to the ground, there was a flicker around her frame, a red flicker which signified that her aura was drained.

Not wanting to waste time on one person, Claude immediately turned towards the direction where he heard Ren and Nora's voice from, leaving Pyrrha wheezing and coughing on the ground.

Nora was busy looking for her partner/childhood friend, when her eyes suddenly caught Sterling came out from the dust cloud and ran towards her. She was about to retaliate with her hammer, but she immediately found Sterling had already begun his swing of his great axe he used earlier.

She then had to put up her hammer to defend herself, and when Sterling's swing connected, the man easily sent her flying like a rocket.

BAM!

Ren, who was looking around, suddenly heard a pitched cry of his long-time friend, and he was met by the body of Nora Valkyrie colliding with his own. The two stumbled and bounced on the unforgiving ground, until they stopped to groan in pain.

At this point, Claude had decided to let go of his weapon. He still had five other people to hit on, and with the handicaps given by Ozpin, the weight of his Shatter Storm would only hinder his movement even further.

Pyrrha slowly woke up, her vision was swimming and her gut was still throbbing in pain. Standing on wobbly feet, she groaned while massaging her stomach and clearing her mind to get better vision of her surrounding, all while walking around to find anyone. She glanced down and grimaced at the small crack on her armour.

In the midst of vertigo and recovering, Pyrrha felt a slight relief as she noted that the dust cloud was gradually settling down. She could make out Ruby waving her hand at her, before she turned to find Yang, Blake and finally Weiss before the four girls began to make their ways to regroup.

The invincible girl also saw Ren, who was in the middle of helping Nora back on her feet, until she found Jaune, who was looking back at her with relieved expression on his face. Pyrrha would have returned the look in kind, if not for the fact that her eyes caught something crouching low behind the blonde boy.

It was Sterling - his hands were coming together, making something of a gesture between them. A few fingers were pointed upwards, the rest were curved as if making a fist. However, what replaced Pyrrha's sense of vertigo with sense of dread were, the fact that fox's fingers were crackling with electricity, as well as expression on his face.

"Jaune, move away from there!" Pyrrha screamed as her eyes widened in horror, the pain and vertigo on her person was momentarily forgotten.

Her yell caused the rest of others to pause on whatever they were doing, to follow the redhead's gaze and caught Sterling was crouching to ambush Jaune from behind. The boy blinked in confusion and saw the others were looking dreadfully at him, or more like, _behind him_.

"...Huh?"

When he turned his head to look at his rear, however, it was already too late.

Sterling's gave a toothy grin as he pushed his pointed fingers upwards as hard as he could. "Bottom's up!"

That moment, an agonizing scream of pain echoed across the Emerald Forest, scaring the local birds and faunas away.

* * *

Back at Beacon, the headmaster and his secretary were watching the unfolding scene regarding a certain Arc. Glynda gave out a long, defeated sigh, taking off her glasses to massage her twitching eyes from the incoming headache, while Ozpin lightly snorted with his knuckles covering his imperceptible smile.

"Ozpin, recruiting him into our ranks at Beacon was a huge mistake." Glynda quipped as she put her glasses back on. "...Then again, I should have known he would pull off that move on someone again. It's just a matter of time once he returns to the field."

"Perhaps, Glynda…. Although, how long since the last time we saw Claude pulling that move on someone?" Ozpin said with a tone of amusement.

"Long enough that I was close to forget… Until now." Glynda replied with a frown. "Seriously, even if he technically hasn't graduated, he's supposed to be a fourth year, already. Wouldn't some more display of maturity hurt him?"

"No need to say that, Glynda. Claude just need some time every now and then to wind up."

"Well, his way of winding up is something I have problems with…"

While Ozpin and Glynda were discussing about Claude's crude conduct, at a certain northern kingdom from Vale, a pristine tall man in white uniform involuntarily shuddered. He looked down at his paperwork and he looked at the window of his office, wondering the brief sense of chill on his spine. For some reason, he felt a poor soul was in need of help, as the hand that was resting on his desk slightly shifted towards his hips.

"Perhaps I do need to give Vale a visit this year…" the man muttered before he returned to focus on his paperwork.

oXo

A sigh was heard.

"...He used _that_ move again, didn't he?"

[Judging from the scream we heard all the way here? Yes, I believe he did.]

"...Then may Oum and the Brothers have mercy on that poor soul." Another sigh was released again.

[Amen to that.]

Barty turned off the transmission to resume his look-out duty. Even after 20 years, the image of Claude's particular attack still gave him goosebumps. He could only wonder which of his student was the victim of his leader's shenanigans.

However, he fixed his glasses when he spotted something _black_ at the far distance. Whatever it was, he hoped it only passed by, or he was only seeing things.

oXo

"JAUNE!"

The atmosphere fell into silence after Pyrrha cried out and weakly ran after his partner, who was launched far away like a rocket after receiving Sterling's low blow.

Simply put, everyone was disturbed not only at the sight, but at the sound of bone-chilling scream that came along as well. Its sheer volume alone echoed for some distance past the clearing, as if it were a cry of some great animal - it was almost terrifying. The visual alone of what occurred was horrific enough, but with Jaune's ear-splitting scream, the initiates' morale seemed to weaken and fail briefly.

"Holy shit…" Yang's face cringed, hissing under her breath as she genuinely felt sorry for Jaune.

Blake closed her eyes away, unable to watch such horror as she sent a silent prayer to the poor blonde.

Even Weiss looked aghast and could not offer any words to comment such crude and uncouth spectacle; despite the less favourable exchange shared between her and Jaune in the past; she believed even the dunce did not deserve _that_.

Ruby, however, since she was the most familiar with Jaune compared with the others, was the most visibly distraught. She was holding back tears and flustered expression after watching her first friend being sent skyward by their fox.

Ren found the entire visual to be uncomfortable to watch, wondering if he would be dealt with a similar blow; his hand reached out to cover his own rear out of fear.

Nora, however, while she also felt sorry for Jaune, she could not resist putting in her own two cents about Jaune's dilemma.

"...Savage."

Claude simply got back on his full height, disconnecting his hands from whatever gesture they had created, and rested them comfortably around his waist. From behind his bangs, his silver eyes were taking in the going-ons around him.

Around fifty-ish feet away from the clearing, Jaune was laid on the ground. Stunned, pained expression for all to see, his posture was slouched over the grass.

"Aahhh…. Oohhh… Ugh…"

The tiniest of whimpers and cries could be heard from his lips, the only cue that he was still alive and breathing. Now, while the look and sounds were nothing at all exceptional to the parties watching, it was rather how he was - for the lack of better term - _prostrated_ on the Remnant's soil which made the moment all harsher and more unforgiving. The teen held his rear to the sky, his hands went around his backside and attempted to soothe whatever pain was prominent. And by his sheer earnestness for which he swept his fingers over his behind, uncaring for those whom might judge him, or perhaps not even noticing through the suffering he had, the idea that whatever discomfort he felt must had been considerable was made all the clearer.

"Ugh…. Oohhh…. Auugghhh…!"

As his cries carried on, Jaune suddenly sensed someone was kneeling before him. He looked up to see Pyrrha was looking over him with genuine concern for his well-being. "Jaune, are you alri…. Okay, that's a foolish question, I'm sorry. Can you stand up, though?"

Jaune only groaned in return, but he made an effort to stand back up. The redhead immediately helped out by prepping her partner by shoulder.

Noting that Jaune had returned on his feet, even with help, Claude decided to take a step forward, intentional small movement, just to gauge the reaction of the initiates. When he did so - Ren, Nora and the other four girls fell a step away from him, tense and wary; they quickly positioned themselves defensively further away by some few meters.

They were scared, or rather, cautious.

That was fine for Claude, he would not blame them, nobody could; tired and going up against an opponent who was all but willing to make each and every Beacon initiates around looked like children? It would be folly to think so lightly at such a foe, in circumstances inappropriate for their teams.

Claude then fished out his scroll from his pocket, and he took a note of the time before addressing the initiates. "Well, two and a half hours left!" he shouted, prompting everyone else to check the time remaining on their own scrolls; he was right. "Who wants to go next, hm? Any volunteers?" Claude asked with his eyes drifting to the team of four girls - he had yet to deal with them.

The said team glanced at one another, until the youngest of the team took a deep breath and stepped forward. "I'll volunteer."

Ruby's words garnered several shocked looks from her peers, especially from Weiss and Yang.

"Ruby! What are you thinking!?" Weiss shouted at her partner, even Yang also stepped forward to grab her sister's shoulder.

"Even if we retreat, he's going to catch up. Besides, I still need to get us a relic, don't I?" Ruby argued.

Yang's lilac bored into Ruby's silver for few seconds, until the blonde sighed. "...Okay, in that case, I'll back you up." Yang said as she re-deployed her Ember Celica.

Ruby's eyes widened slightly at her sister's proposal, but she nodded in thanks in the end. Seeing the exchange, Weiss also sighed in resignation. "Then that means you'll need me to back you up as well. Who knows what will happen to you without me around." she said as she brandished her rapier.

"Then don't leave me out now." Blake also agreed.

"Thanks, all of you." Ruby smiled in gratitude. "Alright, we don't have much time, so here's the plan, pretty simple..."

Claude simply walked to retrieve his weapon, allowing the four girls to have another strategy-meeting. He glanced at Ren and Nora, who also had regroup with Jaune and Pyrrha, the former two were making sure that the latter two were recovering just fine.

It only took few minutes when he noticed that the team with four girls had finished their talk and were now facing him, while the other team seemingly chose to stay back and observe, considering that Jaune had yet to recover completely from his aching.

"You done? I can give you few more minutes to come up with more strategy, y'know?" Claude said in taunting manner at the four girls.

"Thanks, but no thanks." Blake replied with determined glare. "...We're kind of pressed on time, remember?"

"...Fair enough." Claude shrugged in return. "So you girls ready for another round?"

"You bet." Yang said with challenging smirk, bumping her fists together. "A word of warning, though…" her smirk grew into a grin. "...We can be a _real_ pain in the ass to deal with!"

The other girls rolled their eyes or groaned under their breaths at Yang's pun, but strangely enough, Claude found the pun rather fitting. "Heh, funny…" he then brandished his Shatter Storm. "...People say the same thing about me!"

Claude and the four-girls team then marched forward at the same time.

* * *

Claude could see from a mile away that Yang would be the first one to strike. From what he had seen, the blonde was the strongest compared to the other three girls. However, she was certainly not the most skillful.

Her combat style mostly involved charging in head-first and overwhelm her opponent with sheer brute strength. Claude simply curved his frame to avoid Yang's first punch; then he took a step back, as Yang followed with more punches and kicks - once, twice, was almost no tact at all, she practically was more like 'flailing angrily' until she hit something or someone. The brawler was telegraphing all of her movements that she was predictable. In all honesty, Claude believed that Tai's movement was harder to read.

When Yang outstretched her attack in her onslaught, Claude quickly grabbed the offending limb and gave her a quick spin before tossing her back to collide with Ruby, who was speeding at them.

"Ugh!"

The sisters stumbling and fell flat on the ground, the elder onto the younger, as Weiss and Blake simply ran past them towards their target.

Claude simply raised his Shatter Storm overhead, holding the shield and sword on each hand as two pieces of hardened steel slammed onto it. The shield was holding Blake's Gambol Shroud while the sword was fending off Weiss' Myrtenaster, without so much as a chip in its make.

There were sounds of teeth gritting and silent grunts of effort as the two huntresses in training pressed themselves down onto their weapons, hoping the leverage would work to their advantage. Claude for his part, admired their efforts; his expression would almost seem entertained, in a way - as if the two ladies' attempts humoured him.

The said ladies did not share in his amusement.

Giving a light push, Claude threw the two girls back. They landed - Weiss conjured her glyph in mid-air as foothold while Blake landed gracefully on the ground, and the two shot forward again with increased vigor to strike down their opponent.

Claude had to give it to them; for a newly created team, both Weiss and Blake's movements displayed a (barely) decent level of coordination while fighting him. Black and white silently moved and reacted to each other's moves, but it did not matter to Claude; he met their quickened attacks with enthusiasm, somewhat pleased with the two's performances as he used his sword and shield simultaneously to challenge two talented initiates.

They tried to surround him by attacking simultaneously, to throw him off his guard. Weiss would stab, and Blake would slash, all while Claude weaving and blocking. The two girls began to frustrate that their opponent gave no openings, feints nor missteps for them to exploit.

Yang had returned on her feet, with Ruby next to her. On the sidelines, the other four - Jaune, Pyrrha, Nora and Ren were watching the spectacle; the former two were no longer showing signs of pain, but Jaune's expression was still visibly peeved at the fox whom literally poked his bumhole, and Pyrrha still had to take few deep breaths to soothe the pain in her abdomen. Nora was biting her lower lip as her eyes gleamed in excitement, and her fingers around her Magnhild were twitching in anticipation. Ren himself was more calm and relaxed than the rest, her magenta eyes were observing the entire spectacle, noting every development that could be exploited later.

The two sisters charged again into the fray, with Ruby reaching her target first with her superior speed and lashing out with a slash of her scythe, aimed at Sterling's exposed mid-rib, when the man was rising his shield to block an overhead strike from Blake.

Claude only gave a brief glance at his niece before he simply jerked his body away, allowing Ruby's Crescent Rose to swing through empty air, while he swung his sword to force Weiss to take few steps back to provide more room for him to move. Ruby spun on her heels to save her momentum before she readied herself for another attack.

It officially became a four on one when Yang leapt into the air with her fist drawn back to drive down on her target's position. Claude noted that the three girls quickly moved away to avoid a risk getting caught or getting in the way of Yang's attack, allowing him to easily anticipated and dodged the incoming blow. Seeing that he had even more moving space, Claude took a longer step back to avoid the aggressive blow from the blonde teen, whose considerable strength left a sizeable mark on the earth.

Yang did not stop there; while Sterling was still within her range, she pushed forward and threw a left hook towards his chest.

But alas, her attack missed again. Sterling crouched down, leaving Yang to pass over his lowered form. When Yang looked down to keep track on Sterling, she found his silver eyes met her lilac - Sterling then smiled and gave her a wink.

It was confirmed that Sterling was toying with Yang, and it ticked her off. Before Yang could have done anything else, Sterling had already went through her guard, and used his shield to lift and throw her frame over him.

Yang was thrown back to her team, and without giving the four girls any chance to recover and regroup, Claude immediately began to attack. Leaping to the air, he combined his sword and shield back into his great axe form, and held it high over his head as he made his descent towards the four girls.

The distance between Claude and the girls was quickly reduced by the gravity, however, when Claude was about to bring down his axe, something else happened.

"Hm!?"

Once again, Claude suddenly found himself unable to move. Moreover, he found himself being suspended in mid air, his Shatter Storm was already in mid-swing, his frame was only within arm's length of the girls. He then turned to see Pyrrha was using her Semblance again on him.

Claude clicked his tongue - the same trick would not work on him again. Activating his own Semblance, Claude created another electromagnetic field to interfere with Pyrrha's own polarity.

"NOW, GO!"

However, before Claude could have broken free from Pyrrha's grip, he suddenly found Jaune, Ren and Nora running towards him.

"What the-!?"

At the same time Pyrrha's polarity on him had vanished, Claude suddenly found himself being restrained by the three initiates - Ren and Nora were holding his legs respectively, while Jaune wrapped his arms his shoulders in submissive hold.

"Ruby, Weiss! Hurry!" Jaune shouted in alarm.

"Shit…!" Claude honestly did not like where things went, as Ruby did not waste time and quickly reached her hand out towards the relics on his torso. While Claude had been instructed by Ozpin not to go excessive with his Semblance, the man deemed that the situation called for it.

His body sparked and the three students restraining him were suddenly screaming in pain.

"Aaargh!"

"Agagagaga-!"

Jaune and Ren were spasming for few seconds from electrocution, before their smoking frame let him go and fell.

"REN!"

However, Claude found Nora's hold on his left leg did not loosen. In fact, her hold grew _stronger_.

The girl looked up and Claude found her glaring at him, and he suddenly found his vision spinning. With a roar, Nora literally swiped him off his feet and swung him around before she threw him all the way towards the trees.

Claude actually found himself breaking through a trunk as he groaned on the ground. He got up, and he returned to the clearing to see the initiates were regrouping. They looked winded, but what caught Claude's eyes was the fact that his niece was holding a white knight piece.

Claude looked down at his armour and sighed when he found another relic had been taken. Feelings of exasperation turned into boiling excitement in his belly, as Claude chuckled and decided that it was time to take off the kid's gloves, and his hand began to reach for the contraptions on his armour.

oXo

The initiates thought they had won, but they were proven wrong when they saw Sterling walking out of the trees. The girls would have been blushing when they saw the man took off his armour and the braces on his limbs, revealing a lean, yet muscular torso; if not for the fact that when Sterling dropped the armour, a nearby boulder that happened to receive the brunt of the attire was suddenly crushed from the sheer weight of the armour. The braces also seemed to drop too hard on the ground as Sterling discarded them as well.

It made sense now; the handicap was not just the tracker on his person, but the weights on his body, and even then he was already freakishly fast and strong. How formidable he would be with those weights off now?

However, when Claude took a few steps forward, he suddenly stopped and put his hand inside his pants pocket, fishing out a scroll that was cracked and damaged from the throw Nora did him earlier.

"Peter? Barty? Is that you?" Claude tried to communicate at the static and buzz on the screen. "...I need you guys to speak louder. My scroll is damaged!" he slightly shouted at the device.

[...Grimm…. Fend off….. Past…. Several….!]

Claude's eyes widened in alarm at the static voice. "What do you mean?! Grimm? A pack?!"

Then, his worry was founded when he heard a roar from a distance.

[...Nevermore…!]

The initiates, who noticed the grim look on Sterling's face, suddenly looked up as a giant black bird flew past them.

"Attention!"

They then turned back to look at their fox who was sporting a stern expression. "The initiation will be put on hold for the time being! Return to Beacon and report to the Headmaster, then wait for further instruction!"

The initiates looked pensive, as they took Sterling's words into heart. "Then… What about you!?" Ruby was the one who gave the question.

"...Doing what I do best." Claude simply replied as he cracked his stiff neck and shoulders, before he turned to face the incoming Nevermore.

Crouching down slightly, Claude calculated the distance and the timing of the bird grimm coming down on him and he took a leap - and landed right on the bird's beak.

"STERLING!" Ruby shouted in panic at the sight of the man hanging on the beak of Nevermore.

On the other hand, Claude simply swung his sword, the blade carved through the flesh of the Grimm's head and face, in a certain pattern to force the Nevermore to change its course away from the initiates. Once Claude believed that he had flew the Grimm far enough, he activated his Semblance.

Dark clouds began to gather above the Grimm - Claude actually did not want to use this trick so soon, but he had no time to hold back. He needed to finish the monster in one attack; and doing it point blank, when he was in direct contact with the creature, would guarantee that his attack would not miss.

"Haah!" Claude roared as he jammed his sword as hard as he could towards the Grimm's palate, the blade pierced all the way through its upper beak.

When the Nevermore cawed in pain, its head was suddenly struck square by lightning, the lightning itself struck particularly at the blade that sticking out of its beak.

BOOM!

"Whoa!"

"Look at that!"

The initiates were awed at the sight of giant Nevermore being electrocuted mid air. Claude immediately jumped off the bird Grimm as it crashed into the forest below. As he made his way back towards the location where he last saw the initiates, his mind wondered about why would Grimm attack at that moment?

It was quite simple, actually, his mind immediately deduced that the Grimm was attracted to the battle that had happened for the last few hours. While there was no casualties, the pain and damage he inflicted on dozens of initiates might cause enough negative emotion to draw Grimm's attention.

But the 'why' could wait, Claude had to make sure that the initiates - his nieces were able to make it back to Beacon.

ROAR!

Much to his horror, however, multiple Creatures of Grimm suddenly ran out from trees. There were Beowulves, along with their alpha, as well as Grimm with an appearance of a large bear - Ursa. However, what alerted everyone was a bear-Grimm which was a lot larger than the rest, easily towering over the students.

Claude clicked his tongue - an Ursa major of all things had to show up. The Grimm was actually tough enough that it could give even veteran huntsmen a run of their money. Without wasting any more time, Claude dashed and began to engage the nearest Beowulf.

"Move it! Go back to Beacon and don't look back!" Claude shouted once again as he fend off a lunging Beowulf before decapitating the Grimm in return, before he immediately threw another lunging grimm away with his shield.

Despite the initiates attempted to follow the order, however, they still had to fight their way through Grimm in the forest.

The numbers did not pose much problem, considering the initiates were able to work together, but the exhaustion and damage they suffered from the fight earlier kind of hindered their full performance.

Jaune - through sheer dumb luck, managed to fend off a Beowulf with his shield, with Pyrrha helped in clearing out more Grimm nearby. "Go, go! This way!" the blonde motioned with his sword towards a clear path.

Ren and Nora quickly complied, with the latter fired off several grenades to the incoming Grimm.

"Follow Jaune! We'll cover you!" Ruby said to the others as she sliced a Ursa minor in half, before she fired off her Crescent Rose at another one square in the head. Weiss also automatically supported her partner by engaging multiple Grimm at once, her rapier pierced through the maws of the monster.

"Ruby, come on, you too!" Yang was about to run off first with Blake, but she stopped on her tracks in favour of making sure that her little sister was right behind her.

"I'll catch up, just go first!" Ruby replied as she took aim at an Ursa who attempted to blindside Sterling, only for the man to easily skid on the ground to dodge the ambush and stabbed his blade through the grimm's back. She herself was unaware of a tall shadow looming over her.

Weiss just used her gravity Dust to lift up several Beowulves before she dispatched them while in mid air. "Ruby, we have to- Look out!"

Claude who just stabbed his blade through a grimm's skull widened his eyes in horror when he saw an Ursa Major swatted Ruby's petite frame to a distance. The girl stumbled and bounced on the ground before she skidded stop. Her aura was flickering out to protect her body from any damage.

The Ursa major who just swatted Ruby immediately roared and gave chase, intending to finish her off with the next strike. That moment, Claude's world seemed to frozen, as his mind ended up having some unwanted memories.

 _C...laude..._

"RUBY!" Yang screamed in horror at her little sister. However, before she could have done anything, she was suddenly interrupted by the sound of someone's bellow.

Everyone turned to see Sterling, with his expression screaming bloody murder, dashed towards Ruby, whom had an Ursa major looming over her. The large grimm turned only to find a fist embedded deep into its face violently.

CRACK!

The mask covering the grimm's upper face was cracking from the sheer force of the impact, the grimm wobbled for a bit before it directed its attention to the man and roared in defiance.

"LEAVE HER ALOOOONE!"

In return, Claude's silver eyes flashed and he gave his own bellow that echoed across the clearing. However, everyone did not expect to see the grimm they were fighting suddenly jerked their heads towards the source of the roar.

The battlefield went silent for a second, the initiates were more confused at the fact that the Creatures of Grimm were focusing at a single far away target than the ones they were previously on a second ago. Some even noticed that the Grimm were flinching, even taking a step back, as if they considered if they should just _withdrew_.

It was a few seconds later until the Ursa Major that Claude just knocked back suddenly roared and charged at Claude and his niece. In retaliation, Claude simply brandished his Shatter Storm into its axe form, and with a roar of his own, he swung the axe to cleave the Grimm half diagonally.

Claude charged forward, drawing the rest of the monsters' attention to himself as he began to hack, slash, rip and tear the Creatures of Grimm left and right. "GO, NOW!" Claude shouted one more time and he returned to fight the remaining Grimm.

Weiss quickly arrived next to Ruby and she quickly tugged on her partner's arm. "Come on, Ruby! Let's go!"

Retreating to the woods with Weiss, Blake and Yang; Ruby was too stunned to argue back, she could not tear her gaze off the sight of Sterling's back, as he fought off the monsters; and her mind could not forget what transpired when the man came to her rescue - a thought that was more or less shared by everyone present.

There was someone who could put fear into Creatures of Grimm.

Glancing at the retreating form of the initiates, Claude smirked as he could finally let loose without worrying over casualties. He then glared at the enemies in front of him; he would make sure that none of those monsters would reach those children.

As another horde of grimm closing towards him, Claude then closed his eyes, focusing his mind to tap into his inner potential.

The time around him suddenly felt like it was slowing down for few seconds, as the Creatures of Grimm in various sizes and forms lunged at him, his silver eyes suddenly flashed open, engulfing the area in a silver light.

* * *

 **Please review! :)**


	8. Beacon Initiation (V)

**RWBY: The Redeemer**

 **Disclaimer: I only own the OC. RWBY is a property of Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth.**

* * *

 **Beta-read by Starlight's Poet**

 **Chapter 7: Beacon Initiation (V)**

Ruby halted and turned around, just in time to see a brief flash of silver light dimming out from beyond the trees. _"What was that…?"_ she could not help but wonder.

"Ruby, come on!" from ahead of her, Ruby heard her partner calling out to her.

"Right, coming!" the red-riding hood replied. However, when she was about to move again, she - as well as everyone else paused when they saw dark clouds above the location where Sterling was fighting.

Moreover, they were surprised when they saw literal lightning bolts struck from the clouds, followed with sounds of roars, explosions and battles.

"That…. Didn't seem natural, did it?" Yang asked as she looked at the direction where the fight took place.

"No, that's no normal thunderstorm." Weiss added - the sudden shift in the weather was just too abrupt.

"Elemental Semblance… It's not something you see everyday." Blake put in her own two-cents.

The rest others also paused on their tracks to see the (un)natural storm, until Ruby suddenly felt the subtle tremor and shift on the ground beneath her feet.

"Hey, did you feel that?"

"...Feel what?" Weiss narrowed her eyes skeptically at her partner. The rest automatically looked down to the ground to see what Ruby was implying.

"I… don't feel anything, Rubes. What's wrong?" Yang asked her sister, her confused looks were also shared by Jaune and Nora.

"It's like… there's something moving underground." Ruby said with worried tone, her silver eyes never left the ground.

Weiss rolled her eyes. "Keep your head together, Ruby. We don't have time to be paranoid now."

"Actually, Ruby might be onto something." everyone turned to Blake, who was scanning the ground with critical eye. "It's subtle, but I... heard something below us."

Weiss was about to retort, but Pyrrha raised her hand. "I did too… Just a little, but I definitely felt something is off."

"...Same here." everyone glanced at Ren who remained stoic, albeit there was a hint of apprehension in his magenta eyes.

The atmosphere was only filled with distant voices of battle, as everyone was contemplating the concern that Ruby shared with Blake, Pyrrha and Ren. With not only one, but four people agreeing about the same issue, nobody could feign ignorance anymore; as Ruby then set her eyes at her friends.

"Let's go back."

oXo

Claude just swung his Shatter Storm down, decapitating an Alpha Beowulf right on its jaw to half. With the boost given from his lineage, the silver-eyed huntsman easily manoeuvred his great axe and decimated the surrounding grimm.

When the monsters began to charge at him with reckless abandon, he activated his Semblance and a lightning struck from the dark clouds above, striking the head of the Shatter Storm, imbuing the weapon with force of nature. Claude roared and slammed the weapon down; creating a thunderous shockwave that took down the surrounding creatures with one strike.

Claude then took a look around, to see if there was any remaining hostile. Apparently, he pretty much had slain every single grimm in the area. He waited for few more seconds to make sure that no more grimm would come out from the trees, and after confirming that he was alone, Claude chose to take a deep breath, as he allowed the power to leave his body.

As soon as the glow in his eyes dimmed, he hunched over, catching his knees with both hands to prevent him from falling to the ground. He straightened up and took several deep breaths to regain as much as stamina as he could.

However, a few seconds later, he realised that he had made a mistake. The earth beneath him suddenly trembled and burst upwards, Claude had barely enough time to jump out and avoid a creature that apparently wanted to ambush him from below. He landed and rolled on the ground, grimacing at how low on aura he was, but his eyes was frozen at the new monster erupted from the ground.

Claude has seen many kinds of Grimm. In fact, he once came across an Elder Beringel in the past; giant son of a bitch, and an equally as ugly as a half-burnt gorilla. But the grimm in front of him was something else - it looked like an Elder Grimm by size alone, perhaps almost as tall as a Goliath, if not taller. The lower half of its body was akin to a spider with six legs instead of eight, stretching out behind with bulky bottoms. It was also heavily armoured to the point where it would be easy to mistake it for a tank of some kind; the two front legs were designed to the point where it looked like a skull of some kind.

The upper half of its body, however, although looked somewhat humanoid, was gruesome. It was thin and emaciated, with the white bony armor crawling along its back and curving into its ribs. White spikes jutted out from its elbows, and on each of its digits were sharp talons. The defining feature had to have been the head - like all Grimm, a bony white mask covered its face, but the lower half was exposed. Worse still, there were two mandibles that encircled the jaw, almost like a second pair of teeth.

The Grimm's four glowing red eyes stared down at Claude, teeth bared and snarling, before it released a bone-chilling howl.

In Claude's mind, although the creature before him was not as bad as the abomination that he last encountered twenty years ago, the current one could definitely fit into his list of nightmare fuels.

"...Fuck!" were all Claude said before the Grimm suddenly let out another howl, revealing something akin to an organic glands within its maws that spat out a green liquid.

Claude immediately jumped away to dodge out of instinct, and when the attack landed, he became alert when his silver eyes witnessed the ground disintegrated. "Acidic spit… Just what I need." he grumbled as he turned his gaze back to the monster. _"More importantly… What the hell is it doing here in Vale!? This son of a bitch is supposed to be a native all the way at Mistral!"_

The Grimm howled again, this time it charged at the huntsman. Snapped out of his own trivia, Claude himself simply leapt away to avoid an incoming giant spike - one of the grimm's front legs, to be precise. The creature attempted to run him over with its sheer size and weight.

It became a cat and mouse game as Claude was put on defensive with a giant grimm on his rear. He then made a sharp turn and swung his blade several times against the grimm's carapace, but the best it could produce was some insignificant scratch marks. The grimm obviously shrugged off the miniscule damage on its bone-legs and kept rampaging around. The situation only got worse when it spat out acidic liquid every now and then, forcing Claude to gain distance.

He then slammed his Shatter Storm together, transforming the sword and shield into its axe form, and Claude roared again; charging at the grimm and swung his blade as hard as he could muster.

Shatter Storm met with the Grimm's frontal claw head-on, both sides - man and monster tried to overpower each other. However, not only that Claude was rather drained from his stunt with the pack from earlier, the sheer size of the beast before him was enough to explain its strength.

"Rrr….RAAAGH!" Claude roared, mustering every single fiber of his muscles and bones to push the Grimm away, even for only a few meters. The monster stumbled back, however, Claude could not help but inwardly smirk at a noticeable crack at the grimm's exoskeleton where Shatter Storm connected.

True to its age, the Grimm growled at its prey before it decided to turn tail and dig into the ground below. Claude gave chase, but by the time he arrived at the mouth of the pit, Claude could only catch the rear-side of the Grimm disappearing into the darkness of underground.

Giving chase further would be suicidal, considering his own condition, and Claude was inclined to agree that the Grimm had chosen to withdraw for the time being. It was no problem, he only needed to remain vigilant while catching his breath, until he could use his Awakening again or regrouping with Peter and Barty.

"Sterling!"

A few seconds later, however, his eyes widened and he turned to see Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang ran towards him. It was also the same moment when Claude's silver eyes caught the tremors that gradually took place beneath the girls' feet.

 _No, no, no, no! What are they doing here!?_

It was not a tactical retreat, the Creature of Grimm had instead chosen more vulnerable preys.

"GET THE HELL OUT OF THERE!" Claude bellowed in panic, as the ground beneath the girls started to grow into a mound, much to his horror.

Fortunately, it only took a second for the girls to realise the threat that Sterling implied, as they also noticed the ground below them suddenly erupted. "Jump!" Ruby quickly signaled her friends to follow her leaping away from whatever that burst out from the ground.

* * *

All the girls managed to avoid the ambush and recovered on their feet, only to gawk at the sight of the giant beast. "What the hell is that!?" Yang exclaimed as the grimm howled again in agitation.

"Well, girls…" Claude said while suppressing a curse from coming out from his mouth. "Say hello to an Elder Tsuchigumo." he set his eyes back on the towering grimm, while hefting his Shatter Storm over his shoulder.

"What?" Ruby asked at Sterling, not catching the name quite clearly due to language barrier.

"It's an old language from Mistral, means 'Earth Spider'." Blake provided, narrowing her golden eyes at the monster. "Judging from the name, I take it's strange to run into this thing in Vale?"

"You can say that, but fight more and talk less for now!" Sterling ordered as he charged at the Grimm, now he had to see that the girls would make out of this ordeal alive _again_.

His eyes scanned over the girls, and they lingered a bit longer when met with Ruby's silver ones. A few seconds later, both owner of silver eyes nodded to each other, as if they had conveyed a silent communication. Ruby began to fire several rounds from her Crescent Rose towards the Grimm while Claude charged.

Weiss quickly looked between the Tsuchigumo and the two huntsman and huntresses engaging it. When she noted that the Grimm was agitated by her partner's shots, she quickly caught on and proceeded to use her Glyphs to fire several dust rounds as well.

Blake and Yang also followed suit as they more or less understood the current game plan. Sterling Cole was the only one among them who did not possess a conventional mean of ranged attack. However, he most likely possessed a weapon that was powerful enough to deal a significant damage on the creature. Thus, the girls would provide distraction with cover fire while Sterling would deal the killing blow.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

Bullets and Dust rounds flew towards the Grimm from every direction. However, the elder Grimm proven its wisdom through time as it knew the approaching human. Claude clicked his tongue when he realised that the Tsuchigumo spotted him, the monster then weathered the hail of bullets and stomped its claw-feet at the man.

Claude had to stop and weather the sheer weight behind the Grimm's strike as the ground beneath him caved in. He gritted his teeth, doing his damnest to keep his ground beneath the Grimm's tremendous weight. "...Where are the other four!?" he managed to ask.

"Jaune and the others are going back to Beacon! Someone has to alert the headmaster and return with reinforcement!" Ruby replied.

Claude accepted the response - _reasonable_ enough. Either they would be able to kill Tsuchigumo or not, they had to survive until reinforcement from Beacon arrived. It would not be long.

"Right, then keep up the fight! Don't any of you dare dying on me!" with another roar, Claude swung and pushed the offending appendage away. However, the Grimm refused to relent as it proceeded to stomp the human with its appendages again and again.

In return, Claude roared as he met blow after blow with the swing of his Shatter Storm. However, every strike that connected made his bone and muscles screamed in ache.

The girls were awed for a second at the sight of a man fighting toe to toe against a giant grimm, until Yang snapped out back to reality. "He can't keep this up forever!" the blonde said as she reloaded her last ammo clip around her Ember Celica.

Ruby and the other two also snapped out of their revieries as they also almost ran out of ammunition. However, the former was the first to notice that the role had been swapped - the giant grimm was now preoccupied with Sterling instead of them.

Yang, being a daredevil she was, as well as being in the closest position, was the first to dash into the fray. After running for a minute, trying to find a good spot to blind-side the grimm, Yang fired a shot from her gauntlets, using the force of the recoil to boost her jump. She landed on top of Tsuchigumo's bulky bottom, and she proceeded to charged at the Grimm's torso.

With another shotgun-enhanced jump, Yang latched on Tsuchigumo's bony head and decided to unleash her Ember Celica upon its head; landing blow after blow of her shotgun-enhanced fist on the side of the Grimm's face.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

"I! Hope! You're! Hungry!" She roared as she also aimed at Tsuchigumo's maws. Alas, the onslaught did not last long as Yang had to jump away to avoid the Grimm's hand trying to catch her.

Yang rolled hard onto the ground, and she got back on her feet only to see Tsuchigumo had set its eyes on her, and _damn_ the creature looked utterly pissed.

"YANG!" Ruby cried in worry as she used her Semblance to reach her sister as fast as she could, just in time when Tsuchigumo spat out another blob of acidic spit.

The sisters watched the incoming attack in horror - Yang was more for the fact that her baby sister stood _in front of her._ The older one immediately reached her arms forward and she embraced her baby sister's frame protectively with her own.

SPLASH!

The girls closed her eyes when the sound of the acid making contact was heard. When they opened their eyes a few seconds later, they stared at the back of a man instead.

Claude stood his ground with his shield raised up to take the brunt of the corrosive attack. Hissing sound was heard as the acid did its work in eating the metallic surface away on frightening rate. He quickly threw the shield off his left hand to prevent the damage crept up to his body.

"Sterling!" Ruby shouted as she and Yang looked mortified between the man and the slowly corroding shield on the ground. _What had they done?_

"Move! Keep circling it around!" Claude simply ordered them, ignoring the lack of his shield and instead made do with his sword.

It appeared that Tsuchigumo had begun to feel frustrated, as it let out another howl while still receiving some occasional dust rounds and bullets from Weiss and Blake. It also began to trash around even harder, this time, it decided to go after the girl in black.

Good thing that Blake had prepared themselves for something like this; when Tsuchigumo began to lash out at her, it found itself stomping and slashing at what appeared to be an after-image of the girl. Every time it thought it landed a hit, the girl would just blurred away.

Using her Semblance, Blake manoeuvred around while leaving shadow clones in her wake, she threw her Gamboul Shroud in kusarigama form, only with black elastic ribbon instead of chain, towards the grimm's head and the blade pierced to latch on one of the Grimm's eyes.

Tsuchigumo howled in pain and trashed around the place more, its vision partially robbed. It jerked its head around in violent fit and allowed Blake to pull herself off the ground, soaring towards the Grimm's face. Yanking her black blade out of the bony surface, she turned it into a sword and slashed off one of Tsuchimo's mandibles.

The Grimm howled in pain for the upteempth time, clutching its face. One of its eyes was as good as blind, a bit of its maws had been cut off, and the bullet and dust-round wounds littering its giant frame did not make it any easier. Thus, the Grimm instinctively chose to turn-tail and retreat; starting by digging into the ground beneath.

It was the moment where Weiss did a quick look over her supply; she still had one last Ice Dust. She always made it a habit to assume that only having one round of Dust was (almost) as good as not having any. However, the circumstances demanded her to push through. Loading the Dust into the chamber of her rapier, Weiss dashed forward to close the distance and conjured the largest Glyph she could muster around the retreating Tsuchigumo, who was already over mid-way into the ground.

Ice blocks and spikes began to grow from the earth around the Grimm, enclosing the hole it just dug. Soon enough, Tsuchigumo found itself trapped in a large block of ice, its upper torso was stuck on the surface. Then again, the Ice Dust Weiss had used on it was not enough to completely immobilize him, the Grimm could still break free with enough brute force.

However, before Tsuchigumo could have moved around to break free, something else came upon it.

With his blade brandished, Claude ran and jumped high before he stabbed his sword through its nape. The Grimm howled, flailing around madly in order to shake him off. Then, with his available reserve, Claude mustered to summon another thunderclouds above.

BLAAR!

A few seconds later, another lightning struck with a voice of thunder - a large stream of electricity washed over both Tsuchigumo and Claude, with the former showing the symptoms of electrocution by howling and convulsing like crazy.

The lightning stopped, and the Grimm's body limped down while smoking. Wrenching his sword out from the carcass, Claude then landed on the ground in front of the Grimm, and began to walk towards the girls.

"Well, I guess that's a thing-!"

However, Claude froze in his step as he heard a growling sound behind him. He turned to see that the Grimm had yet to kick the bucket, raising its giant claws in the air to come down upon him. While it was obvious that Tsuchigumo was on its last legs from Claude's lightning strike, it still had enough energy to land one last desperate strike.

"Watch out!"

Before Claude could have reacted, however, a red blur flew past him and the Grimm found its throat was slashed open. Claude blinked and saw Ruby Rose appeared in a swirl of red petals behind Tsuchigumo, Crescent Rose had met its target. Although the scythe's blade was not long enough to completely decapitate the Grimm, it was still enough to leave a significant gash wound that nearly cut off the Grimm's neck.

Tsuchigumo paused before it wobbled around, one hand reached out to clamp the large wound shut, futilely attempted to keep the neck intact. Alas, the damage sustained by its body was already too much to bear; soon the Elder Grimm finally collapsed to the ground, its body slowly dissipated into ashes.

Claude blinked at the carcass right on his feet, before he looked up to see his niece flashing a thumbs-up and a radiant grin. He then sighed while slumping his shoulders, returning the gesture to the girl. "...Well, _that's_ a thing."

"WE DID IT!" Ruby cheered while jumping on the ground. She was soon re-joined by the other girls as well. Weiss was looking exhausted, but her expression spelled relief; Blake offered a congratulation smile as she walked at the younger girl. Yang on the other hand, ran towards her little sister and pulled her into a hug while laughing and swinging her around, much to Ruby's chagrin.

Claude simply took another breath as he took in the view - pride started to swell in his chest at the sight of his nieces. A visage of Summer Rose filled his mind for a second, until he was snapped out of his stupor at the sound of engines.

He turned around to see a bullhead with the rest of initiates - Jaune, Pyrrha, Nora and Ren; along with Barty, Peter and Glynda, inside the aircraft's cabin overlooking them. He waved at them, signalling that everything was under control, as well as beckoning them to come down and help out.

* * *

Everyone was currently walking from the Beacon's landing pad to the main building, where Ozpin himself was waiting for them with his signature cane and a mug of hot drink in hand.

He smiled confidently at the teachers, and he also nodded at Claude, who also returned the gesture in kind. Then, the headmaster addressed the students. "Congratulations on make it back here on the appointed time, students."

At Ozpin's speech, every youngster realised that it was already sunset. "As the rules of the initiation, may I see your relics?"

The initiates then proceeded to step forward and presented all of their relics; two pieces of white rook and knight. The headmaster gave a quick look over to examine the so-called relics, and he nodded in acknowledgement.

"Good work for today. You may rest up until you are summoned back to the amphitheatre to have your teams assembled. You are dismissed."

Ozpin then walked back towards the main building, followed with the rest of the teachers as well as Claude from behind. However, when Claude was half-way towards the school, a voice called out to him.

"Sterling!"

He stopped on his tracks and turned around to see Ruby and Yang approaching him, their faces were looking somewhat guilty. "Yes? What is it, you two?" he asked with amicable tone.

"Um… About your weapon…" Ruby fidgeted as she played with her fingers. She looked at Yang who placed her hand on her shoulder supportively, then she mustered her courage to speak up. "We are sorry!" she said with her head down.

A few seconds passed, and Claude simply tilted his head in confusion. "…What?"

It was Yang who replied, "Well, y'know… If it's not for us your weapon…" she averted her gaze awkwardly. She might not be a weapon nut like her sister, but she knew well how suck it felt to have your weapon dissolving into ashes by some corrosive grimm spit.

Upon retrieval, the shield of Shatter Storm had been severely damaged. The two-thirds of the surface had corroded, and the intricate mechanism had been exposed to the acid, rendering the transformation feature unusable.

Claude regarded the sisters for a moment before he sighed at the apology. "Gee, what are you saying?" he rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "It's not like Shatter Storm is beyond repair or anything. Rather, I should thank you."

Ruby looked up and found Claude was looking at her. "While I didn't appreciate the fact that you girls ignoring my orders, but if it's not for you, I wouldn't be standing here. So thanks for the save." He smiled at his niece.

Ruby and Yang smiled lightly as she felt a tad better, although they still looked a tad guilty, no doubt their minds were still hung up about Claude's shield.

Claude sighed as he needed to think of something that could at least alleviate the girls' worries. "Besides, it's not that you did anything wrong." He continued when Ruby and Yang's attention were directed to him again. "When you fight a bigger opponent, the option is to either aim for their legs and destroy their balance, or aim straight to the head that coordinates his entire body. You simply followed the norm when fighting the giant grimm." He smiled at Yang, as if he never blamed her for anything. "And the grimm aimed at you, so what? When people and grimm fight, there could be casualties in one way or another, let's just leave it where our only casualty is my shield. No biggie." He shrugged.

"I guess we should thank you as well, then." Yang finally brightened her smile. "If it's not for you, we won't be standing here either. So, thanks for saving us."

Claude returned Yang's gesture in kind, glad that the girl was feeling better.

"Oh, oh, then can I help you in fixing your shield? Please, please, please! I promise that I'll make this up for you!" Ruby then suddenly shot forward, her face was practically beaming at her uncle.

Claude jerked away from Ruby's pleading eyes – the biggest puppy-dog eyes that Claude had encountered, which he thought only applied to Summer back in the day. He glanced to Yang, who met his eyes with sympathetic look before shrugging, as if saying, "That's just how she is, you are on your own, pal."

He then looked back to Ruby, and once again, he thought he was looking at Summer. A few seconds later, he then rubbed his face tiredly and sighed for the third time in resignation; it was just unfair, there used to be his sister, now there was his niece. If something like puppy-dog look could be weaponized, Beacon Academy would have a weapon equivalent to a tactical nuclear.

"Okay… I will let you know when I'll start working at the forgery." he finally relented, eliciting excited look from the sisters. "However!" his tone suddenly went stricter, causing the sisters to stiffen up to him. "You are only allowed to join me once you've finished your assignments and studies for the day! I'm not going to let you slacking off, or god forbid, failing to graduate! Am I clear?"

"Got it/Crystal!" both Ruby and Yang replied simultaneously.

"Good." Claude nodded in satisfaction and turned his heel around towards the building. "Rest up now. You girls still have to attend team-placement ceremony later."

He walked away while listening chatters behind him, he looked up to smile at the dusk sky; all's well that ends well.

oXo

"Jaune Arc, Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren." Ozpin voices echoed across the great hall, calling the four names to walk on the stage. "You four had obtained a set of white rook piece, from today onwards you will work together as team JNPR, led by Jaune Arc."

Applauses and few cheers were heard from the crowd while Jaune was flabbergasted. "M-me?!" he pointed at himself in disbelief.

"Congratulations, young man." Ozpin simply smiled at Jaune's attitude.

Nora went ecstatic and was seen hugging the surprised Ren, while the new appointed leader was barely holding himself together on stage; he even easily fell on his rear when Pyrrha just playfully punched his arm.

At one corner, Claude was standing against the wall with Barty and Peter, clapping their hands at the newly assigned JNPR. "You know, I saw your talk with young Ms. Rose and Ms. Xiao Long earlier." Barty started a conversation as he watched Pyrrha helping Jaune back to his feet.

"...We thought that perhaps, you _do_ have a knack in guiding the younger generation." Peter provided as the team JNPR walked down from the stage.

"Please, anyone could hold a short talk with children." Claude simply waved off, all while keeping his eyes on the stage.

Then, Ozpin proceeded to announce the next team. "Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna and Yang Xiao Long…"

Barty and Peter did not miss Claude suddenly perked up on his spot at the mentioning of his niece, his expression shifted slightly brighter.

"You four have obtained the white knight pieces, and henceforth you will work together as team RWBY, led by Ruby Rose."

Ruby was as shocked as Jaune at the announcement, but was holding herself better as she was pulled into another hug by Yang. However, the sisters and Blake did not notice that Weiss was not really amused at the result.

From the spectator's seat, Barty and Peter were clapping at the newly formed team, noticing that the clapping next to them was louder than before. "Gee, look at him…" the former whispered with playful tone.

"Yes, this feels nostalgic, indeed. Just like when STRQ was first formed all those years ago..." Peter nodded while smiling at the sight of his leader.

Claude's face was beaming with pride and joy, he was giddy and biting his lips to keep himself from shouting and cheering at the girls. Even his silver eyes were glazed over. When Ozpin was delivering the closing speech, Claude took a deep breath and turned to his teammates. "Say, Barty, Peter…" The said teachers turned to him. "...Are you guys free later tonight?"

Barty and Peter blinked before they glanced at one another.

* * *

It was in the middle of the night.

In one of Beacon Academy's multi-function rooms that could also serve as a training room, Bartholomew Oobleck and Peter Port were sitting on the floor. Both of them were clad in jersey and gym clothes, with the latter forgone his top and was lying on his back. Peter's round belly was exposed to the world, although his other areas such as chest, shoulders and arms were toned with muscles, testament of his profession.

The teachers looked haggard, their breaths were laboured and they were covered in sweats.

"Good work, you two." the teachers looked up to see Claude walking towards them with two bottles of drink in hand. He was clad in simple short and T-shirt; and while he was also drenched in sweats, his expression did not show any sign of exhaustion. "I guess you two are getting old. Especially you, pops." he grinned as he handed the refreshments to his friends.

"Oh, cut me some slack." Peter grumbled as he took the drink and downed its content. "You have no idea what 20 years could possibly do to your body." he said after relinquishing the cold sensation in his throat.

"Sure, I don't." Claude merely shrugged. "Still, you guys were doing pretty well. Kind of losing your touch, but still not bad at all."

"Thank you. However, as a matter of fact, Claude…" Barty suddenly quipped from his drink. "I believe it might be you who's losing your touch."

Claude raised one eyebrow at Barty's comment.

"I concur." Peter nodded. "If we are talking about you from the good ol' days, I believe we would have only had one team of first years, if none at all… And you probably wouldn't have asked us to spar with you in the first place."

"Yeah, I'll give you that one." Claude raised his hands in defeat as he joined the teachers to sit on the floor. "So, I haven't asked you guys; how does it go being teachers?"

"Simply put? Extremely difficult, but completely worth it by the end of the day." Peter replied. "You need a combination of discipline, fairness, compassion and perhaps many other personality factors in guiding younger generations to become the next protectors of Remnant."

"If I have to be honest, I once could not believe that there were students that were more troublesome than you and Roman combined." Barty chuckled, while Claude raised both of his eyebrows at him. "Glynda could testify to that, since she didn't have it easy either. Things only became more complicated for with General Ironwood added into equation back during our first couple of years in teaching…."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold up." Claude suddenly interrupted. "What was that again about Ironwood?"

"...You mean General Ironwood?" Peter asked.

"Yes, that one!" Claude pointed out. "I mean, are we talking about James Ironwood?"

"Oh, yes. We have not told you about that." Barty nodded. "James Ironwood is now working as the headmaster of Atlas Academy, as well as general of Atlesian Military. I believe you won't be able recognise him by the time you two reunite."

"Get out of here! Jimmy? A general?!" Claude said with disbelief, but mostly excited tone, followed with a short laugh. "Ha! Actually, rather than that, I swear that you implied something about Glynda and Jimmy earlier. Is this what I think it is?"

Barty and Peter slowly glanced at one another, and a second later, the former replied, "It's…. Not really for us to tell."

Despite the answer, the way Barty said it was enough for Claude to come to a likely conclusion. "My god! Jimmy and Glynda?! How did that happen in the first place?"

"I'm afraid that is none of you business, Claude."

The CBP trio turned on their seats to see Glynda approaching with Ozpin following behind her. The headmaster was smiling with his usual mug in hand while the deputy was scowling.

"Oh, Glynda!" Claude called out. While Barty and Peter immediately got on their feet, the former took his time in standing up. "Right on time, was it you or Jimmy who confessed first? I _really_ , really must know that." he asked while grinning from ear to ear.

"As I said earlier, none of your business." Glynda replied with a sigh, taking off her glasses so she could massage the bridge of her nose. Claude, however, did not miss the faint shade of pink that coloured the woman's cheeks. He was _so_ going to approach this topic again later.

"It truly reminds me of the old times, seeing you three together like this." Ozpin quipped as soon as he caught up with his assistant, although his eyes sadly noticed that the image was lacking one particular person.

"Ozpin." Claude greeted with Peter and Barty nodded at the headmaster. "How's the paperwork?"

"Nothing to worry about, no thanks to you." Glynda glared at the young huntsman. "Due to your excessive force in manhandling the initiation, there was a huge amount of complaints and other things piling up for us to respond. Even the Council is concerned about the seemingly high standards the Beacon Academy has set up for the applicants."

"Now, now, Glynda…" Ozpin decided to step in. "In the end we agreed and went along with Claude's proposal, we still have two teams of promising huntsmen and huntresses."

Glynda still looked peeved, but she scoffed and chose not to press the issue any further in the end.

"As for you, Mr. Rose…" Ozpin then turned his gaze on Claude. "...I take that you are now convinced that young Ms. Rose can enrol into my school?"

"I think you've already known by the time you called her name out with the rest of her team." Claude simply replied, meeting the headmaster's eyes with his own.

"I see…" Ozpin nodded in acknowledgement. "However, now that I think about it, I never knew myself if you are qualified to teach these students, did I?"

Everyone blinked at the question; Claude himself only stared at Ozpin, whose somewhat-smug smile did not falter. However, when his silver eyes caught a peculiar glint in brown orbs, Claude grew a smirk.

"What do you have in mind, headmaster?"

oXo

Glynda, Peter and Barty were standing near the wall of the training room, with the former standing a little bit more forward to oversee what would be transpired.

In the middle of the room, a spacious tiled floor, Claude and Ozpin were standing only around a meter from one another. Ozpin was not holding neither of his cane or his mug, his glasses had been taken off and put elsewhere away, and his black jacket and vest suit had been handed over to Glynda, leaving him clad in the rest of his clothes for everyone to see.

Claude himself was still clad in the same shorts and T-shirt from earlier, and he was cracking his neck and shoulders around.

"This brings me back to _that_ day during your first year in Beacon." Ozpin suddenly said out of the blue.

Claude paused in his stretching, before he blinked and nodded in remembrance. "Ah, yeah… It does, doesn't it?" he said in reminiscence before he smiled challengingly at the headmaster. "Let's see if this one will be different, shall we? What's the deal again?"

"I have reviewed the footage of your performance during the initiation, Mr. Rose." Ozpin explained. "...And to be honest, I was slightly disappointed."

"Oh?" Claude raised an eyebrow. He did say to himself that he was out of practice, but still…

"I won't bother to go over the details. I'm simply going to test you myself, through one or two rounds, no weapons, no Semblance. Are you okay with this?" Ozpin finished his explanation.

Claude merely scoffed as he got himself into position. "Are we going to stand around all night, or are we gonna fight?"

Ozpin smiled at the eagerness, and nodded to Glynda. The woman nodded in return and dutifully raised her hand up before bringing it down. "Begin!"

Ozpin simply extended his left hand in offering manner, as if inviting Claude to come to him. However, the latter knew better than just rushing blindly.

The young man decided to play along as he simply walked towards the headmaster and slapped his left hand with his own, and as if on cue, the two were suddenly locked in a fierce exchange of blows, with Claude's and Ozpin's arms met each other blow to blow.

Claude was on the offensive mostly and Ozpin was on defensive, both of them did not move much from their original spots as they kept their fight to melee hand-to-hand. However, years of experience between them showed when the latter saw an opening; he caught Claude's extended right fist with his left, stepped into his guard and pressed his right elbow against his neck, while maintaining the grip on Claude's right, effectively keeping him in place.

First point went to Ozpin.

Claude smirked as he proceeded to slap Ozpin's elbow off his neck with his free hand, and more blows were traded. Ozpin then decided to give more push on his attacks, forcing Claude to stagger back a little bit, before the two were locked in another heated exchange; striking, parrying, and countering at one another.

Ozpin then turned his heels around and push forward by delivering several swing of his elbows towards Claude, whom had to take a few steps back, but he managed to block every single strike; until Ozpin managed to trick him with a feint and landed a blow to his stomach that was originally aimed to his head.

Claude shrugged off the blow to his gut, and the fight went on, with Claude soon twisted and turned around his heels to outmanoeuvre Ozpin, creating an opening in the process. Claude then pushed on his attacks; each of his strikes was only a few inches away from Ozpin's face before the latter parried every one of them mid-air.

Ozpin soon had to tilt his head to the right to avoid another strike from Claude, but the latter's extended hand then caught the back of the former's neck and Claude pulled Ozpin towards him; and before Ozpin could have retaliated, Claude then put his free hand on top of his hand, forcing Ozpin to bow down further. Ozpin then used his knees to attack Claude. The latter then used his own foot to kick at Ozpin, whom cancelled the kick with his own, before launching the same feet towards Claude's abdomen.

Claude jerked his torso back enough so Ozpin's sole was only a hair's breadth away from its target, and Ozpin flexibly raised his feet higher for a high-kick, which finally force Claude to back away to save his head. Ozpin then twisted on his heel and performed a high-hammer kick with his left; Claude barely managed to caught the offending heel to land softer on his shoulder. He swatted the leg and step back to gain distance; Ozpin used the force to spin around and face Claude again with crane-like pose.

"Come on, Mr. Rose. That can't be your best." Ozpin taunted with the smile remained on his face.

Claude only gave a feral grin as he charged, and the two began another bout. This time, they moved around the stage in order to gain more advantage and exploit more openings from each other. Claude had stepped up his game and forced Ozpin to slip up, allowing him to land several jabs and quick strikes on his torso.

Ozpin then parried one of Claude's attack and sneak both of his hands to land palm-strikes on the latter's gut, but Claude jumped away in the last moment to lessen the impact. Ozpin gave chase, and when he caught on Claude's arm, Claude capitalised the hold by suddenly pushing forward; landing a solid shoulder-tackle on Ozpin's torso.

Claude then proceeded to kick - aimed at Ozpin's feet to destroy his balance. Ozpin met the kicks in kind, and he quickly launched a counter-kick towards Claude's chest, which was blocked easily enough. When Ozpin tried to land another kick from different angle, Claude quickly send his own kick towards Ozpin's left leg which was holding him up, forcing the headmaster to fall to the ground.

However, before his body could have hit the ground, Ozpin quickly performed a black-flip and recovered, only to find Claude was already on him again. The headmaster was pushed back while defending himself against Claude's continuous strikes, and soon he paused when Claude's fingers was only an inch away from piercing through his throat.

The two broke away, with two combatants smiling pleasantly at one another. "Good." the headmaster said. "Shall we pick up the pace?"

Then, without warning, Claude suddenly found Ozpin had closed in front of him, launching a punch to his face. He quickly dodged his head to the side, and immediately proceeded to push through into Ozpin's guard and attempted to wrap the headmaster's frame around his arms.

However, Ozpin immediately pushed back and halted Claude in place, before he used Claude's body as leverage to pull his own body up, then performing a roundhouse kick mid-air. Claude grunted as he barely dodged the kick aimed at his head, and he countered as soon as Ozpin landed with his own combination of left hook, followed with his own roundhouse kick. Ozpin simply ducked and slipped past Claude, before he gained distance with several somersaults.

Claude regarded Ozpin with a critical eye before he smiled ruefully. "Okay, I didn't see that one coming."

"I didn't spend all these years by remaining idle, you know?" Ozpin merely retorted.

Claude then charged forward; launching kicks and punches which Ozpin easily parried off before he countered with a nasty palm-strike aimed to the chin. Claude barely dodged again, only to have putting himself in defensive as Ozpin relentlessly sending lightning-fast punches and strikes, before he finally landed a solid kick to his mid-section, launching him away.

Claude bounced and skidded across the floor, before he quickly stood up to focus his sight on Ozpin, who simply used his hand to taunt him to come at him. In response, Claude then dashed again towards the headmaster; this time, with holding nothing back.

On the side-line, Barty, Peter and Glynda had decided to make themselves comfortable on the floor, watching the two men duking it out with one another. The middle then glanced at the latter, who heaved a deep sigh while massaging her temple.

"Perhaps you would like a tea, or coffee, Glynda?" Peter offered.

"A black tea would be nice, thank you. No sugar." Glynda said with a tone of resignation as she leaned back against the wall.

"I'll have a black coffee as usual, if you don't mind." Barty chirped in.

"No problem." Peter said as he stood up to walk out towards the door, not before he gave one last glance at the sight of Claude slamming Ozpin's body onto the hard floor with an over-head throw, before the latter immediately twisted and wrapped his legs around the former's head, trapping him in a head-lock.

The night was far from over, and the following years of Beacon Academy would surely be an interesting one.

* * *

She was taking a simple night stroll. Despite the exhaustion from the initiation, a nice night air always managed to let her sleep better. Besides, it would not hurt to learn the academy's lay-out in advance.

When she walked towards one of the halls, where practical-combat lesson was usually held, she noticed several people were occupying it; or to be precise, there was a match being held. When she took a peek out of curiosity, she saw several teachers and the headmaster Ozpin himself. She even perked up when Ozpin and Sterling Cole decided to spar.

She originally planned to go back to her room soon, but when would she be able to watch such a spectacle again? The match between two experienced huntsmen was too rare to be missed out, not to mention that Ozpin himself was one of the combatants.

When she watched the fight began, however, she only felt herself inadequate compared to the veterans on the stage. While Ozpin was obviously able to pressurise Sterling thanks to his experience, the younger huntsman himself was not necessarily outmatched. Hell, even Sterling managed to land several good hits on the headmaster himself. Sterling had shown her and her peers a first-hand experience of how good he was, but she did not expect him to be _that_ good - capable of holding himself against the headmaster of Beacon Academy.

She immediately booked it when she saw one of the teachers - the one with chubby built stood up and began walking towards the door. She had overstayed her welcome, it was a good time to withdraw without detection.

However, when she made her way back to her dorm room, there was one thing that bothered her.

 _"Who is Rose? Why did he call Sterling, 'Rose'...? Rose, as…. Ruby…?"_

* * *

 **And that's the wrap! Whew, this chapter was a lot harder to write than I expected. So, what do you guys think? Constructive reviews instead of flames, please. Ahsoei, over and out.**


	9. The First Term Starts (I)

**RWBY: The Redeemer**

* * *

 **Beta read by Starlight's Poet (Today is his birthday (7th November)! Best wishes for him!)**

 **Chapter 8: The First Term Starts (I)**

Claude was sleeping blissfully under the cover of his blanket. The spar with Ozpin last night really took a toll on his person. He did not bother to check how late he went to bed, all he did was simply going back to his room, took off his sweaty clothes, and fell to the bed. He vaguely recalled Glynda telling him about waking up on time as he was an interim-teacher before he finally drifted.

Within the Morpheus' Embrace for who knows how long, Claude suddenly snapped his eyes open when a loud whistling noise suddenly echoed against his eardrums. He pushed himself from the bed, his body still felt kind of sluggish and his head was still drowsy. How long was he asleep? He only recalled that it was very late at night when he began the spar with Ozpin, he did not know how long the match had gone, and at what time he finally returned to his room.

He yawned and rubbed his sleepy eyes as he regarded his room one more time. He remembered that Ozpin decided that his room would be on the same floor with the first years. Something about not having enough staff room, and the number of first years accepted into Beacon allowed more spare rooms that could be used.

The reason sounded dodgy, but Claude himself had no real reason to object. He was not that much older than the students to begin with and the room was quite a distance away from the pre-occupied rooms, so things could still work out in the end. Besides, if Claude took another look, it was quite spacious and rather comfy for himself; the room was probably, originally intended for the other first years that did not manage to pass the initiation.

Claude got out of the bed when he heard a knocking sound from the door. He opened the door to see Glynda standing in front of him, the woman seemed not expecting to have him answering the door so soon.

"Oh, so you are awake…"

Glynda's words stopped when her eyes trailed down to see the young man was practically naked from head to toe. Not caring about his state of undress, Claude simply offered a sleepy smile. "Morning, Glynda." he greeted before yawning again, even he scratched his buttocks absentmindedly.

The woman simply closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Seriously, the day had barely started and she already had a migraine. She wished she could have demanded a raise from Ozpin when he enlisted Claude into the Academy before the semester began.

"Claude, will you please get ready and put on some clothes? If you can make it early enough before the students filling the classroom, you might still have enough time to get some breakfast." Glynda said as she managed to keep her cool through years of self-discipline.

Claude looked down and finally realised that he was indeed naked. "Ah, right… Okay. I'll see you in a few." he waved and closed the door.

Glynda sighed as soon as she heard the sound of running water. As much as Claude Rose could be aggravating sometimes, he was not a fool.

...Well, not a _complete_ fool, he was kind of an _imbecile_ from time to time. It was hard to predict what he wanted to do.

She turned to lightly glare at the direction of the student dorms, considering to give a piece of her mind about blowing a loud whistle in the morning. However, feeling that she had dealt enough headache from Claude for the morning, she decided to let it slide in the favour of the first day of semester.

oXo

Claude closed the sink of his bathroom after he washed his face. He scowled at his face in the mirror before he turned his head at the direction where the bedroom was.

" _What time is this again?"_

Although a bit far, Claude could make the numbers on the clock - 7 o'clock in the morning, he still had around two hours before the class began. He ran his hand through his locks - the spar with the headmaster last night really took a lot out of him. He looked down at his bare body, and he just could not help but to get a quick exercise out of habit.

He usually had a quick run, but he might going to be late if he did so. Thus, he settled by letting his body fell towards the floor. As soon as he was close enough to hit the floor, he put his hands on, and caught his body to immediately proceed to do some push-ups.

This morning exercise would have to do for now.

* * *

The breakfast affair went without a hitch, aside from Claude would feel uncomfortable from the tie wrapped around her neck from time to time. However, the stern glares from Glynda and Peach prevented him from loosening his necktie, something about 'getting used to proper decorum'.

As a matter of fact, the first time Claude met Glynda Goodwitch was during the Vytal Festival held at Beacon over two decades ago, with the latter originally affiliated with Atlas. After a match between his and her team that ended with a certain 'incident', they began to introduce themselves with one another and would always hang out together.

As far as Claude recalled about Glynda, she always had this kind of air that prevented lesser men to defy her, and she was not even the leader of her team that time. On that note, he did not really expect to see Glynda to move to Beacon and work as Ozpin's secretary; and to be honest, he was a bit surprised to see how much Glynda had changed, yet remain the same for over twenty years. Then again, what should he expect?

At the moment, Claude was now standing in the lecture halls, next to Peter Port in suits provided by Beacon Academy. Of course, the former had deliberately loosened his necktie as soon as he was out of Peach and Glynda's sight.

"So, are you ready for your first day teaching students, sir?" Peter asked beside him.

"As ready as I can ever be…" Claude shrugged before he took another deep breath. He checked at the time to see it was over 8:40 AM. Considering the time everyone had woken up, at least some of the first years should have been filling the room by now. "The kids are kind of taking their time, aren't they?" he asked with a hint of curiosity.

"It is only their first day. As long as the students arrive on time, they can have as much time as they need to prepare." Peter replied without missing a beat.

Claude hummed at his friend's reasoning. However, feeling a bit bored, he then walked towards the door. "Y'know what? I'm gonna go to check on them. Man the port?"

Peter seemed wanted to retort with a finger raised, but eventually he lowered his finger. "Be my guest, sir."

Claude nodded and he made his way back to the dorms. Travelling between dorms and lecture halls took around 15 minutes by walking, so Claude decided to make a small run to save time.

When he entered the dormitory building, he heard noises as if there was some big renovations happening inside. Following the noise, he arrived at a door leading to one of the rooms, where he could hear sounds of heavy lifting. He pondered of his next course of action for a second before he decided to give the door a few knocks.

"Yes?" It was Weiss, clad in Beacon Academy student uniform, who opened the door. "Oh, good morning, Mr. Cole. Can I help you?" she greeted with courteous tone.

"Morning. Yeah, actually I'm…" Claude was standing around a head taller than Weiss, and his words paused when he looked inside the room behind the girl. From what he saw, he described that the room had undergone some major renovation with minimum equipment.

Basically, the four beds had been arranged into a pair of bunk-beds, on the left side, the top-bunk was sustained with several ropes tied on the bed's frame, while the top-bunk of the other one was supported by several thick books.

He then turned to the girls, noting that they were all clad in the same uniform as Weiss. He suppressed his amusement from showing, when Ruby's appearance reminded him of _both_ his and Summer's wish to keep the hooded cloak over their uniforms.

"Did you girls set all of these up?" Claude then gestured at the makeshift bunk-beds.

"Yeah! This the fruit of our first work as team RWBY!" the leader of the said team proudly declared. "Since we didn't have enough space for all of our stuff, so…. What do you think?" she asked expectantly at the teacher.

"No, no, no." Weiss interrupted. "While I admit that we managed to make more spaces for our luggage… Mr. Cole, please tell them that this idea is dangerous!"

Claude looked between Ruby, Weiss, and the room itself. This time, he let the small amusement showing up on his face. The coincidence and similarity were kind of scary, actually; team CBPR also had to turned their beds into bunk beds, because a certain, self-proclaimed fashionista extraordinaire just had to bring his _entire wardrobe_ to Beacon.

Not to mention, the bunk beds actually ended up _collapsing_ on the first night, eliciting screams of panic and agony from being squashed by a man-sized bed, to echo across the entire dorm.

 _Those were good old times_.

A few seconds later, however, Claude simply sighed softly, making a mental note to call a handyman later. "As much as I'd love to give my opinion about how you treat your room…" he then fished out his scroll and showed the time. "...I think you girls should go to the classroom."

The girls widened their eyes at the number 8:55 AM. Weiss looked urgently at her leader, whom immediately raised her knuckle up. "To the class!" as soon as Ruby announced, Claude stepped aside to allow the girls ran past him.

From the door not far from RWBY's room, Jaune Arc stepped out with his own uniform and was startled when four girls suddenly ran past in front of him. He stumbled back only to fall on his rear. His teammates peeked from the door at the girls rushing out, and they turned to see Claude picking Jaune up to his feet.

"Come on, you four as well! It's almost time for the class starting! Hustle, hustle!" the four other teens immediately bolted out with Claude close behind them.

oXo

"Monsters, demons, prowlers of the night! Yes, the Creatures of Grimm have many names, but I simply prefer to call them… as _prey_!"

Claude snorted in small amusement at Peter's laugh in his attempt to bring up the mood. However, from what he saw so far, the students were not as amused as he was, even some of them simply listened out of courtesy… and the looks in their eyes had already begun to lose interest. Some of them had already begun to do their own things instead of paying attention to the lesson.

Peter Port was standing in front of rows of tables with students occupying them. Behind him were his signature weapon decorating the wall, as well as boards with description of various grimms - Beowulf, Boarbatusk, Ursa, Nevermore, Deathstalker, even a King Taijitu. Claude's eyes then wandered at the sight of a golden trophy which was carved in the image of Peter's head, wondering when did he get such an award, whatever that was, before he turned his gaze to regard the students.

It was rather strange to see such a spacious classroom with multitude rows of desk and chairs, to be filled with only eight students. Then again, it was due to his own handiwork during the initiation process that made RWBY and JNPR the sole first-year teams to be created.

"Uh… and you shall too, once you graduate from this prestigious academy!" Claude then turned to see Peter trying to regain some of his dignity. "...Now, as I was saying: Vale, as well as the other three kingdoms, are safe havens in an otherwise treacherous world! Our planet is absolutely teeming with creatures that would love nothing more than to tear you to pieces! And that's where we come in. Huntsmen! Huntresses..." Claude raised his eyebrows at the sight of his teammate winked at Yang, whom flinched and let out a silent groan.

The air got _slightly_ awkward for a second, when Peter's gaze suddenly met Claude's own. However, the awkwardness was immediately suppressed as soon as Claude gave a disarming smile and jerked his chin slightly forward, prompting Peter to carry on.

While Peter returned to the lecture, Claude regarded the students and saw the two teams' member somehow mirrored each other's actions; Ruby and Jaune were drifting off; Weiss and Pyrrha were actually taking notes, albeit the latter wrote in slower pace. Blake and Ren were reading books that were irrelevant to the class, while Yang and Nora had practically zoned out with their own thing; the former was playing something in her scroll, while the latter was seemingly… daydreaming.

Claude chose to remain silent - it was kind of understandable; himself and Roman were never able to keep their attention on Peter and Barty's ramblings, especially when the former was lecturing them about whatever must be appropriate, or not important enough to warrant his attention.

"That is what you are training to become - individuals who have sworn to protect those who cannot protect themselves from this very world!" Peter finished his introductory part. "...But first, a story; a tale of a young handsome man, a boy with shining aspiration to become a hero for people, _me_!"

A loud snort was suddenly heard; everyone in the room turned their heads to see Sterling seemingly choked on something, before he coughed into his hand. Peter regarded him for a few seconds with a weird look. "...Are you alright, Mr. Cole?"

"I'm…" 'Sterling Cole' took several deep breaths while sporting a strained smile. "I'm-I'm fine, s-sorry to interrupt, Professor Port. Please continue..." the way he spoke was as if he was holding something in his throat from escaping.

Peter starred at Claude for another second before he cleared his throat to return to his story-telling. This time, he began to tell about his first hunt.

During the speech, however, the students' eyes were glancing at the corner, particularly at Sterling. The said man, on the other hand, was struggling not to bust out laughing at Peter's story. The way the teacher embellished the events inside the story only pushed Claude's self-control to the edge. His face was flustered from the strain of keeping himself down, his body was shaking from time to time, his hands were gripping his knees tightly, and he was also biting his lower lips to prevent himself from laughing.

Alas, there were still small burst of chuckles that escaped from Claude's mouth in the end. Every time a snort or giggles were heard, Peter would pause to glance at Claude, only to find him sitting up straight with calm expression. However, as soon as Peter looked away to continue with his story-telling, Claude's expression would break into strained smile as he struggled to keep himself from laughing again.

The cycle kept going for the duration of Peter's lecture - Claude would break into muffled giggles and coughs, only to forcefully calm his expression every time the teacher turned his eyes on him.

At this point, the students were more interested to watch Sterling Cole's reaction and antics towards Peter Port's so-called 'inspiring' story. Either Peter was oblivious towards Claude's behaviour, or simply ignoring him, was up for debate.

In attempt to distract himself, Claude then turned his attention to the students once again. They were all staring at him - to be precise, they seemed to pay attention at whatever Peter was speaking, but most of the time, their eyes would glance at him. Ruby and Yang in particular were the ones who would silently giggle in amusement. Blake was stealing mixed glances of amusement and curiosity at him from her book, while Weiss was scowling at him.

Perhaps his struggle of self-control was obvious for all to see. However, all of that ended when Peter suddenly turned to him. "Before I go to the conclusion, do you have anything to say, Mr. Cole?"

Everyone, Claude included, turned to see Peter regarded the young man with something akin to… stink eyes at him. Perhaps Peter had caught a wind of what Claude had been doing, and was currently trying to get him to the open.

Claude only hummed for a second, before he turned towards the students. "Rather than that, let me ask everyone here a question… Did you learn _anything_ from Professor Port's story there? What _is_ the conclusion of his story?"

Apparently, that question caught the students off-guard, as they seemed to look at one another, some of them even had panic in their eyes. Peter on the other hand, only quirked an eyebrow at Claude, whom winked knowingly in return. The teacher then gave an inaudible sigh, although a small smile was hidden behind his thick mustache.

Claude then addressed the students again. "Come on, kiddos. By the looks of it, you most likely will have more stories from Professor Port for this class, and you are expected to find the morals the stories expect you to learn. This one is only introduction, y'know? The next lectures will be harder to digest."

The students, especially those who could not answer his previous question, looked a bit sheepish at the remark - _they should have at least listened_. However, they could not help but to think in the backs of their minds, _why does it seem that the role between the teacher and teacher-in-training had been swapped for a second?_

Then, a few seconds later, a hand finally raised from the students. "Yes, um… Pyrrha Nikos, right? Go ahead." Claude pointed at the red head.

Pyrrha stood up and spared an intrigued glance at Claude for a second, before turning to Peter. "A huntsman has to possess honour, responsibility, courage, determination and rational mind; when they go out on a mission or fighting against Creatures of Grimm…..?" she sounded a bit unsure of her own conclusion, but she pushed through, nonetheless.

"Precisely! Very well-said, Ms. Nikos!" Peter nodded approvingly. The girl in question gave a small smile as she returned back to her seat. However, before he could have continued, a bell suddenly rang.

"Well, I believe that wraps up the class for today!" Peter clapped his hands. "Remember, every story contains one moral lesson or two, or any information that may inspire you in the most unexpected way when you become full-fledged huntsmen. Have a good day!"

The students began to mill out the classroom. However, as the students walked past him, Claude noticed that Weiss' expression remained bitter, even she did not respond much to Ruby's call - refusing to meet her eyes.

* * *

"Ahahahahahaha!"

It was during lunch break period where Claude, Barty and Peter had finished their lunches and were currently standing together at one balcony of Beacon Academy's rooftops. The former was laughing while sitting on a bench while the latter two chose to simply stand with exasperated expression.

"You know that it's not exactly a made-up story, Claude." Peter dryly remarked.

"Yes, and I believe it's unsightly to laugh at your friend simply doing his work."

"Hahahaha! Ha…." Claude managed to draw a breath in between his laughs. "Sorry… Sorry, but seriously, the way you spoke about it ,though!" he then cleared his throat before speaking again with a pose. "'A tale of a young handsome man, a boy with shining aspiration'? You?" Claude asked after impersonating Peter's speech.

"Yes, yes, go laugh it up. It must have been tough for you to restraint yourself during the course of my lecture." Peter replied with the same dry tone, while Barty sighed while adjusting his glasses.

It took another few minutes for Claude to finally cease his laughter. With one more deep breath, he then spoke again. "Okay…. Back to business. How do you think I did?"

"Not too bad for your first time. I see that you still have that wits of yours." Peter replied with pleased tone. "Then again, I shouldn't be surprised, you do have a knack of turning most of situation into your favour."

"...And you still have your short attention span as I recall." Barty snorted. "I know you were not actually reading the topic I was teaching."

"I guess it means something if I heard it from you." Claude nodded at Peter. "...And yet you didn't called me out for it." Claude retorted at Barty who only shrugged and took a seat next to him, heaving a sigh with a hint of resignation.

"Alright, back to business again. What did _you_ guys think of the kids?"

"I know most of them are not exactly thrilled with my lectures, but they will get used to it, eventually. Especially after you threw them off during Peter's lecture." Barty glanced at his leader.

"Well, not only that." Claude retorted. "I'm talking about that the little Ice Queen."

Peter sighed in return. "Claude, let me remind you that you'd be expected to address the students properly by their names."

"Duly noted. But you guys do know who I'm talking about, don't you?" Claude glanced back.

"Yes…. I believe it has been quite obvious since the team-placement ceremony." Peter replied, with Barty nodded in agreement.

"...That heiress still wants to be the one calling the shots instead of Ruby." Claude said with his somewhat somber tone.

Noting that his leader's mood had taken a darker turn, Barty quipped while looking at the sky. "This reminds us of a certain someone, doesn't it?"

Claude glanced at Barty, and his lips grew into a knowing smirk. "Oh, yeah. I remember, the one who whined and bitched about not being the team-leader back in the day."

"Yes, I'm afraid so." Peter said in reminiscing tone, and both men looked up at the sky, caught in nostalgia. A few seconds later, the elder-looking man spoke again. "...I take you have a plan to deal with this matter?"

"Hmm…." Claude hummed while still looking up. "I want to say that this is something that the team should take care themselves, but I guess I can stir things up during the next lesson."

"Ah, of course." Barty nodded in understanding. "I believe the next period is more up to your alley."

"Thanks, I guess I have to prepare. The break is almost over, after all. Can't have Glynda grilling me over twice a day." Claude stood up from his bench. "I'll see you later, Barty, pops." he gave Barty a quick tap on the shoulder and a nod to Peter, before walking away.

* * *

In another lecture hall, Glynda was standing in front of rows of students with Claude standing behind her.

"Welcome to your first combat lesson." Glynda started. "All of you are here because you are expected to become our next generation of huntsmen and huntresses. However, looking back at your performance in the initiation, all of you are nowhere near adequate to join the ranks of Vale's huntsmen; your skills are still in need of further polishing."

Glynda sighed through her nose as she expected the students to fall into silence; her speech was not actually motivating. She then glanced back at her current charge; while she could have picked _far_ better words for her speech, the young man just had to insist to give the actual speech, something about 'the real way to motivate the new students'.

She could only hope that she did not make a mistake by agreeing to play along with Claude Rose.

"Per headmaster's decision, this gentleman here will be your combat instructor along side me." Glynda then gave way for Claude to step forward. "Sterling Cole, perhaps you'd like to… have a few words?" somehow, she felt a small sense of dread filling her body.

Claude then nodded to Glynda with a knowing smile plastered on his face. He then regarded the students for a second. After considering what he wanted to say for a few seconds, Claude then took a deep breath.

"LISTEN UP, YOU BRATS!" everyone winced as they were taken aback by the volume in Claude's voice. The man himself inwardly smiled, knowing that he had garnered everyone's attention.

"The esteemed headmaster Ozpin has placed _you_ in _my_ charge! To study in the ways of harnessing your potentials and being complete _badasses_ inside and outside of combat! If you place your faith in me, Sterling Cole!" Claude jabbed his thumb at his chest. "...Then I guarantee, with a hundred percent certainty, that _I won't fail you_!"

The entire class was speechless at the sheer confidence in Claude's tone. Glynda only watched the man with wide eyes for a few seconds before she quickly snapped back to reality. However, before she could have asked anything for Claude to end his speech and step back, she found that he was not finished yet.

"I've seen what you kids are capable of during the initiation, and I gotta say, you lot still need a lot of work." Claude's expression fell slightly, causing the students to automatically relaxed on their seats as well.

"...And that's exactly what I'm gonna give y'all!" the students perked up again when Claude's raised his voice again. "In my lesson, you will know what it means to respect authority, MY authority!"

Glynda raised an eyebrow at Claude, surely he had not forgotten that he was not an official teacher yet?

"You will _grovel_ on the ground! You will train until you _bleed_! You will _cry_ to your mom! But by the end, you will become fierce - no, even _fiercer_ machines than me!" Claude proudly slammed his palm on his chest.

The students blinked at the young teacher, unsure if he could actually pull it off, rather, if _they_ could actually pull it off. Every student in Beacon Academy had been given access to watch the footage of the initiation, and looking back at how Sterling decimated the initiates and grimm left and right; the first-years knew that the only reason they managed to pass the initiation was because of the handicaps placed on his person, and even so, their surprise attack during that time was running on a thin ice.

...And that was when the man was on handicap. They had witnessed what he was capable of when he released himself off the same handicap. Sterling Cole was without a doubt, a full-fledged grimm-killing machine _._

"So, what do you say, kiddos!?" the students' attention returned when Claude spent a few moments to meet everyone's eyes with his silver orbs, his lips had grown into a wide grin. "Are you all willing to become all-around, incredible, _unbelievable_ , _FEROCIOUS_ fighting machines!?"

"""YEAH!"""

Everyone, Claude included, turned to see that it was Ruby, Yang and Nora who cheered; although the rest of the students showed various degrees of interest.

"That's the spirit!" Claude nodded approvingly before his face contorted into a feral grin. "BUT THAT'S 'SIR, YES SIR' WHEN YOU BRATS ARE UNDER MY BOOT!" everyone flinched again at the sheer volume. "Now again! DO YOU _ALL_ WANT TO BE AWESOME!?"

This time, everyone seemed gain more light on their expression, and the room was filled with a united voice.

[SIR, YES SIR!]

Everyone cheered and applauded with Claude together until the latter raised his hand in the air, automatically silencing the crowd. Without another word, Claude simply stepped aside, allowing Glynda to take the spotlight once again.

The woman adjusted her glasses and take a small cough to clear her throat. "Thank you, Mr. Cole, for such…. _Inspiring_ speech." she said the word sarcastically while throwing a stink-eye at the man, whom only smiled innocently in return, garnering a few giggles from the students.

Glynda then took another breath to calm her nerves before she spoke up again. "For the first few lessons, we will evaluate your progress in combat arts by one-on-one spars. Once we are past that, you will learn how to fight and adapt yourselves in various combat environments and situations."

The students paid their rapt attention to Glynda, taking in her every word in mind.

Noticing that the students had taken notes of her instruction, Glynda continued. "That concludes the briefing. Any questions before we begin?"

"Any particular rules of the match that we should know about?" it was actually Weiss who asked the question.

Glynda acknowledged the question with a flick of her riding crop. "Any tactic is acceptable and you are allowed to use any weapons, either your own or the training weapons provided by academy. You will be fighting for survival in future, so underhanded methods will not be forbidden, although some of them may be frowned upon. Your aura levels will be monitored; and the match will end once your aura readings turn red, your opponent is no longer able to fight, and when I say so. Of course, you are also allowed to forfeit if you deem yourself unable to continue the match. Any other question?"

Seeing nobody raising their hands, Glynda nodded as she turned her gaze at Claude. "Very well, then. Mr. Cole, perhaps you'd like to have the first match? You can pick one of the students to be your opponent."

Claude blinked at Glynda's knowing look, he could make out a perfectly concealed smirk on her face. Snorting lightly, he then faced the students. "Well… rather than me picking someone up. I'll just ask you; any volunteer?" he asked as he spread his arms wide open.

From the crowd, several hands were raised. However, both Claude and Glynda noticed that one particular student raised her hand first, which obviously would have the first turn.

"Very well, Ms. Nikos. Please prepare yourself in the changing room and come to the stage. The same goes for you as well, Mr. Cole." Glynda instructed.

Ruby, Yang and Nora were among those who raised their hands eagerly. While they would be lying if they said they were not disappointed, the girls and everyone else would not want to miss the opportunity to watch the match between two prodigies; a four-time champion and a veteran huntsman.

Claude regarded Pyrrha for a second - _damn, is the girl eager_ ; judging from the glint in her green orbs. He could not help but to return the gesture in kind. The two shared a nod before they headed towards their respective rooms to prepare.

* * *

Pyrrha had never been so excited in a long while; her first few days in Beacon had been good for her. She already had a feeling that she would wonderful times with her team, especially her team leader, who could look past her title and treat her like a normal girl. Moreover, she was going to have a match with someone whose strength had caught her curiosity.

To be honest, she never heard a name Sterling Cole anywhere, but it was normal - _the world is a big place_ , and she also heard that Sterling was a fresh graduate of Beacon Academy, considering how old he looked.

Looking back to the initiation, she never actually clashed with him. To be precise, he caught her off-guard with a couple of nasty hits on her, and from his hits alone, she could tell that Sterling Cole was strong. Not to mention, his Semblance could counter her own, making him an opponent that could push her skill into limits, which she considered as a new challenge for her. Clad in her battle gear and weapons ready, Pyrrha truly looked forward for a proper match with Sterling.

Pyrrha arrived on the stage, seeing that her opponent had been waiting for her in a similar garb from initiation. Although, she noticed that the vambraces on his arms were replaced by normal-looking leather bracelets; which meant that it was safe to assume that Sterling would fight her without handicaps.

The thought only excited her even more.

With a calm, confident expression that she had trained since young, Pyrrha and Claude finally stood before each other, with Glynda standing in the middle of them. She then noticed that the man was only wielding his sword in reverse grip, and his shield was nowhere to be seen. She then remembered the state of his shield at the end of the initiation.

"You… didn't take any spare shield?" Pyrrha asked with uncertain tone.

"I can, but when you have fought with a same shield for years, you just won't really up to use anything else." Claude simply shrugged with a small smile.

Pyrrha nodded and did not say anything more - she could relate somewhat, while she could and would use a different sword and shield other than her own, she herself had her own preference. Glynda then regarded both combatants for a second before speaking. "I will repeat once again; the match will end when your aura go red, one of the combatants unable to fight any longer, or one of you forfeit. Any question?"

When no words were spoken from either combatants nor spectators, Glynda nodded and left the stage. "You may begin!"

Pyrrha assumed her stance - Akouo up at the front with her Milo ready behind the shield, while Claude simply adjusted his footing and stood there, still keeping his sword in reverse grip. The girl narrowed her eyes at the man's rather casual stance for a second, until Claude taunted her to come at him with his hand gestures.

Deciding to respond the challenge, Pyrrha then charged forward and swung her Milo to test the waters. The stage was soon filled with the sound of clash of steels, with Claude would dodge and meet each of Pyrrha's strikes with his blade.

Claude was impressed; his opponent was fast and agile, her strikes had weight on them, her every movement was focused and almost not wasted. The sight of her bare biceps alone were enough for Claude to know that her body had been trained and built for balanced speed and strength. He had no idea how long Pyrrha had been fighting, but he would have mistaken her as another member of his kind if it were not for her green orbs.

Soon, the girl also used her shield for her attacks to catch Claude off-guard with a blunt force, and Claude had to turn on his heels and manoeuvred his body to prevent his sword escaped from his grasp. However, much to Pyrrha's surprise, Claude's turn was soon followed by a round-house kick to her temple.

The girl managed to raise her right arm and her Milo to shield the counter-attack, but the force still caused her to stumble, not to mention that it was not her Akouo that defended her. She quickly re-adjusted her footing and gained some distance. She moved her neck to pop some cracks and shook her head to rid her sense of vertigo. Staring at her opponent, she could not help but smile - it had been a while since the last time she fought someone on Sterling's calibre.

Several voices of awe and amazement were heard from the crowd. It was a short exchange, but they were still impressed at the performance of both combatants. Claude himself only smiled and nodded in approval; Pyrrha's title as a four-time champion of Mistral Regional Tournament was well-earned.

Pyrrha then noticed that Sterling swapped the way he grab his sword, as he flourish his blade with a swing; no need to be said that he was going to pick up his pace.

The two then charged forward, and began another, yet fiercer exchange of blows. Despite only possessing a single sword, Claude was able to match the combination of Pyrrha's Milo and Akouo with his speed and reflexes, while alternating his grip on his sword between one and two-handed.

In everyone's eyes, the two combatants looked more akin to dance on the battlefield instead of fighting. The strikes that they threw only reduced their aura gauge by fraction at best, otherwise they had yet to land any effective blow on each other.

However, everyone's eyes widened when Pyrrha stumbled back as soon as Sterling slammed his blade onto her shield. Seeing the chance, the man kept his momentum by pushing Pyrrha back, not giving her any chance to retaliate.

Seeing that she needed to gain a bit distance to recover herself, Pyrrha then activated her Semblance, coating her arms and the offending blade with magnetic field.

Claude blinked when he suddenly felt his sword met with some invisible force before it could have connected. Pyrrha had also jumped, allowing Claude's swing to throw her away from him. Seeing Pyrrha manoeuvred away, Claude had a quick look between his weapon and his opponent. The feeling he had when he could not land his blade…

Claude smirked in understanding; two could play at that game. As soon as Pyrrha had recovered her posture, she then charged forward with Claude ready to intercept her.

Several blows later, Pyrrha found that Sterling's attacks were a tad slower than before, although their weight did not seem to be any weaker. Nonetheless, Pyrrha employed a block-and-counter combination as she would caught Sterling's blade with her Akouo before immediately countering with her Milo.

However, when Pyrrha managed to push Sterling away with her shield, the latter then spun around to keep his momentum while preparing his sword to stab at her. Out of the spectator's sight, Pyrrha noticed that Sterling's blade was cackling with electricity.

Imagine her surprise, when she caught Sterling's thrust with Akouo out of reflex, the blade pierced through her shield. Moreover, she suddenly felt a mild shock coursing through her left arm. Her eyes trailed to the offending blade that was still coated with electricity.

 _Of course_ \- Pyrrha narrowed her eyes slightly at the blade jutting out from the other side of her shield. While she would not say that her Akouo was indestructible, it was not as if the material was brittle either. The numbers of the blow the shield had received, as well as the electricity that ran through the blade, had allowed Sterling to finally pierced through her defence.

Claude smirked as he jerked his sword around - still stuck on Akouo. Following the momentum, Pyrrha spun in the air, but she ended up letting her shield to be thrown aside. However, she managed to land a solid kick towards Claude's mid-section, forcing him to stagger back and allowing Pyrrha to gain another space for herself.

Claude simply patted the spot where the sole of Pyrrha's shoes landed in dismissive manner, yet he still nodded approvingly at the girl's course of action so far.

She was about to use her Polarity Semblance to summon her shield back - her left arm outstretched towards the discarded weapon, but then she saw Claude was already prepared to react - the look in his silver eyes taunted her.

She knew well enough what he could do to counter her Semblance; choosing not to fall to his taunt, Pyrrha then took another breath as she transformed her Milo from its xiphos into javelin form, before she sported a spearman pose. Fighting without Akouo was not her favourite, but spearmanship was already a part of her regime when she took up her arms for the first time.

Pyrrha actions of forgoing her defence in the favour of putting her offensive power to maximum, made the whole room knew that the next round would decide the match. The two then charged, sword and javelin blurred away in their hands as sparks began to fly around, every time the blades clashed with one another.

However, Claude managed to gain an upper hand as he pushed forward, sending Pyrrha away with a mighty swing. The girl managed to keep her momentum by spinning on her heels, and she ran in zig-zag pattern back towards Claude, thrusting her javelin forward.

Claude simply stomped forward and send his sword upward, deflecting the incoming spear and forced Pyrrha to fumble in her steps. She barely dodged the incoming slash on her temple before she was pushed back by Claude's onslaught. The two danced across the stage with Pyrrha on defensive.

Eventually, Pyrrha found an opening and began to counter attack. The two clashed their blades for another few times, before Claude suddenly shot forward with surprising speed. Pyrrha's eyes widened in shock when she found the tip of Sterling's blade soared pass her guard towards her face, forcing her to abruptly leapt back.

At that moment, Claude activated his Semblance once again; running electricity through his frame, enhancing the muscles of his limbs.

" _So fast...!"_

Pyrrha and everyone else - safe for Glynda, were surprised yet again when the man suddenly appeared behind Pyrrha, ready to ambush her. Judging from the trail of dust on the stage, it was fair to assume that Sterling just moved so quick that Pyrrha failed to follow. With another spin, Claude swung his sword to meet the shaft of Pyrrha's javelin, which she managed to raise in her defence at the last second.

"Hah!" with a roar, Claude pushed through and sent Pyrrha flying and bouncing on the unforgiving floor.

The girl managed to roll over, stand and skid herself stop, but the damage had been done; her arms were shaking after receiving Claude's blow on her Milo, her skin was covered in sweat and soot; while her breathing started to become a bit heavier.

On the other hand, Claude did not look one bit exhausted.

"The match is over!" Glynda's voice rang through the ring, prompting both Claude and Pyrrha to relax their stances. "I believe that's enough of you both; exemplary display." the teacher spoke as she walked in between them. "Ms. Nikos, your performance reflects your ability to adapt in the face of a superior opponent, well done." she commented at the younger girl, who nodded in thanks.

"As for you, Mr. Cole…" Glynda then turned towards the man, but she stay quiet for a few seconds, eyes behind the lenses narrowed slightly in small scrutiny. "...Despite being an instructor, I have to say that… you are losing your touch."

Rather than Glynda's tone in criticising Sterling, the students were more concerned about the fact that he actually was not his best, yet he was still able to best Pyrrha Nikos in a match. The man himself only quirked an eyebrow at Glynda before shrugging in return.

Nevertheless, Pyrrha was snapped out of her reverie when she saw Sterling offered his hand to her. "Good fight." he said with a pleasant smile. "You caught me off-guard when you used your shield to attack me. I thought a shield is supposed to be a defensive tool?"

Pyrrha shook the offered hand firmly, while giggling at the man's joke. "I think you also did something similar with your shield during the initiation. In any case, it's been a while since I had a good match like this. I'm getting curious to see your performance at your best."

"I will aim to please." Claude replied with a playful wink, a gesture that Pyrrha took in stride as she giggled more.

* * *

The two combatants then walked off the stage towards the changing rooms. A few seconds later, Glynda then addressed the students. "Let's move on to the next round. Would…" However, when Glynda looked at her tablet to announce the combatants for the next match, she suddenly paused. Then, she glanced at the door where Sterling and Pyrrha just disappeared into, her eyes narrowing slightly before closing. With another breath, she then looked towards the students again. "...Would Ruby Rose and Weiss Schnee of team RWBY come down to the stage?"

The students in question perked up before they blinked at one another. "Um…. But we are partners, is that okay?" Ruby sheepishly asked with raised hand.

"It is important to know about your teammate - your partner's capability. A spar or two will allow you to have the first-hand experience." Glynda pointedly replied. "Now, will both of you get prepared?"

Weiss immediately stood up from her seat and walked past her team leader while sparing her a brief glance. Watching her partner walked towards the changing rooms, Ruby looked at the rest of her team - Blake gave her an encouraging nod while Yang flashed her a grin and a thumbs-up.

Taking a deep breath to resolve herself, Ruby finally left the classroom to gear herself up. Fighting her partner it might be, at least she now had a chance to show her Crescent Rose off to her peers.

On the other hand, Weiss was smirking - it was a perfect opportunity; considering Glynda Goodwitch's position and influence in Beacon Academy, she could prove herself that she deserved to be the leader of her team more than a girl two years her junior.

On her way towards the changing room, Weiss ran into Sterling and Pyrrha, who were chatting while on their way back to the lecture hall. "Oh, hey, Weiss." it was the latter who noticed her first.

"Pyrrha." Weiss greeted with cordial smile, although her smile died down a bit when she turned to Claude. "...and Mr. Cole. That was a great match between you both."

"Thanks, although I think I lost there." Pyrrha shrugged with a humble smile of her own.

"This is a combat _lesson_." Claude said while emphasizing the 'L' word. "Winning or losing the match is not the point here, it's what you learn afterwards despite the result." his words garnered some intrigued and understanding looks from both girls. "...Besides, you almost caught me good for multiple times back there, Pyrrha. Don't sell yourself short."

Pyrrha smiled in gratitude while Weiss nodded in agreement.

"Hey, guys!"

The three turned to see Ruby running and waving at them. Weiss huffed at her leader as she quickly turned back to Claude and Pyrrha. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to prepare for my match." she then walked away just in time Ruby reached them.

Claude and Pyrrha watched Weiss' retreating back, and the former noticed that Ruby seemed a bit dejected looking at her partner. Deciding his next words, Claude then smiled at his niece. "So, Ruby. Ready for your first combat lesson in Beacon?"

Ruby's expression quickly brightened up. "You bet I am!" she said proudly. "I'm going to show everyone what Crescent Rose and I are made of! Oh, and by the way, Sterling, Pyrrha!" Ruby's face suddenly shot forward towards the two, her silver eyes were sparkling. "Your match was awesome! You guys were like, whoosh, whish, and wham! I have a speed Semblance, yet I can barely follow you guys!" she said as she made exaggerated movements.

Claude and Pyrrha only giggled in amusement at the younger girl's antics. _"She's definitely your daughter, sis…"_ the former could not help but remember Summer's first reaction of combat lesson.

"Alright, alright. I think you should get ready. Goodwitch and everyone else is waiting." Claude said as he placed his hand gently on top of Ruby's head in order to placate her.

"Ah, you're right!" Ruby immediately snapped out of it and quickly ran away from them. "I'll see you guys later!" she waved at them before disappearing in a blur of rose petals.

While she was closing in to the room, Ruby absent-mindedly ran her hand through her hair, her palm softly touched her scalp. She had her head being patted by her parents, uncle and sister for many times, but when Sterling - a stranger, did that to her, it felt surprisingly…. _nice_.

Soon enough, heat started to creep on her face, but she quickly dismissed the thought as she found her locker. She had a match, she could think stuff about Sterling later.

oXo

Meanwhile, Pyrrha and Claude watched the direction where Ruby just vanished to, and the two resumed their trek back to class. "So, those two will be fighting for the next round…" the girl mused. "Let's head back, we can't miss this one, can we?" she smiled one more time at Sterling before she jogged off.

"Yeah, you're right…" Claude smiled, having a quick look at his scroll where the screen was showing a message from a certain instructor.

 _I hope you know what you are doing._

"...Let's see how things will unfold, shall we?" Claude put the scroll back to his pocket as he also jogged after Pyrrha, all while rolling his eyes at the amount of faith Glynda had in him.

* * *

 **And that's the wrap! I'm sorry if you find the choreography in Claude vs Pyrrha to be... _lacking_. Most of my inspirations for fighting scenes had been used up for my One-Punch DxD, so I'm having even harder time in writing fight scenes for an action-packed series like RWBY.**

 **Nevertheless, I'm looking forward for your review! Flames will not be accepted, though. Ahsoei, over and out.**


	10. The First Term Starts (II)

**RWBY: The Redeemer**

 _ **Author's notes**_

 **I watched episode 3 of season 6 a week ago; HOLY FUCKING SHIT.**

 **On another note, thank you very much for your support! This story has reached its first 100+ subscribers! Although I wish to see more reviews, but still, thank you _so_ much. You readers are also the ones who keep this project running.**

 **Without further ado, enjoy and R &R!**

* * *

 **Beta-read by Starlight's Poet**

 **Chapter 9: The First Term Starts (II)**

Ruby and Weiss stood on the stage, facing each other, with Claude standing between them. The rest of the team RWBY and team JNPR were watching from their seats. Glynda herself was standing at one corner, observing the situation.

"I'll say this again." Claude announced. "The match ends when one of you can't fight anymore, your aura go red, either of you forfeiting, or when I said so. Any question?"

Weiss simply narrowed her eyes at Ruby, who looked slightly unnerved at the gaze, but chose to stand her ground without a word.

Taking the silence as the cue to carry on, Claude then nodded. "Alright, you can begin." he said and stepped away from the stage, as the two combatants assumed their combat stances.

Weiss was the first to strike as she bolted straight forward, throwing several thrusts of her rapier towards her young leader. In response, Ruby used the shaft of her scythe to parry every single one of Weiss' attacks off her.

Using her smaller build, Ruby then ducked a bit lower to gain some leeway and she swung her Crescent Rose horizontally to push Weiss away. As soon as the heiress took a step back, Ruby then pushed forward and began her counter attack, by throwing several swings towards her opponent in fluid motion.

Weiss gracefully performed several back-flips to avoid every single swing of Ruby's scythe, and she soon regained her footing and blocked another swing with the blade of her Myrtenaster. The two then began to clash their blades, exchanging fast, yet light strikes in order to test and measure up one another.

As if she began to understand Ruby's range, speed and pattern, Weiss started to weave and dodge every now and then instead of blocking and parrying all the time. Soon, she caught an opening, and with a flourish she spun and sent a back-hand at Ruby's cheek.

"Oof!" Ruby grunted at the attack, it did not hurt much, but Weiss scored the first strike. In retaliation, she angled her Crescent Rose vertically and leapt to perform a downright slash.

Not wanting to take any risk, Weiss leapt back just in time when Ruby unleashed a vertical spin that left a noticeable scratch on the stage floor, garnering several 'oh's from spectators. Not willing to give her any chance, Ruby gave chase as soon as Weiss landed and threw another swing of her scythe, which the latter simply jumped again to dodge.

But instead of leaping back, the heiress jumped over Ruby's frame and used her Semblance to produce a glyph. The glyph then served as a platform to allow her to jump even further, creating a distance between her and Ruby.

However, Weiss immediately ran for it while conjuring several glyphs around her, one at the front and a few more below her, as Ruby began to use her Crescent Rose's long-range function and fired several high-impact rounds.

The bullets were either passed harmlessly or deflected by Weiss' glyphs, as she blitzed towards Ruby, using more of her glyphs to manipulate her trajectory while mid-air.

Getting caught off-guard by Weiss' unexpected manoeuvre, Ruby was too late to react when Weiss land a solid heel on her face, causing her to stumble back. The heiress began to grow a smirk, believing that she was leading the game.

On the side lines, everyone was watching the spar with rapt attention. With the knowledge of Ruby being two years younger, Blake and team JNPR were impressed that Ruby was able to hold herself up against an actual combat school graduate. Claude, though, was watching with critical eyes at the combatants' movements, his expression was dead-serious.

Seeing the action first-hand was different than watching a video footage. While she had yet to land any strike, Claude was impressed at his niece's strength, balance and adaptability in wielding the Crescent Rose - he could see that Qrow had done a good job in teaching the young girl. In the end, however, Ruby was still a 15 year-old; her overall performance still showed how much she had to learn.

On the other hand - Weiss fought with coordinated and precise movements. It was shown that she had earned her position as a top-graduate from her previous combat school; her Semblance also provided versatilities for her attacks. However, precise, coordinated and trained styles made her moves rather easy to read, as Claude had been predicting several moves that Weiss had used during the match so far.

Back to the fight - wanting to end the match as soon as possible, Weiss then proceeded to stab her rapier to the ground, the revolving chamber rotated and clicked, and a yellow clock glyph appeared beneath her. She then bolted towards Ruby with her Myrtenaster pointed at her.

At the sight of speeding figure hurtling towards her, Ruby simply hardened her expression and tightened her grip on Crescent Rose; her silver eyes focused on the incoming attack.

Weiss believed she had secured her victory, as she closed the distance. However, when her Myrtenaster was only a second away from striking her target, Ruby suddenly vanished in rose petals. Weiss blinked as she tumbled and rolled on the ground before recovering herself, looking around for her opponent. When the corner of her eyes caught a glimpse of red blur, she turned to follow and found her cheek being greeted by the sole of Ruby's boots.

WHAM!

 _That had to be hurt_ \- everyone from the side thought as they saw Ruby landed an impressive drop-kick, on Weiss' face. The heiress bounced and rolled on the ground before she returned to her feet with a growl, Myrtenaster planted on the ground to support herself.

Then, Ruby launched her counter attack by _blurring_ towards her opponent, leaving rose petals in her wake. Still feeling a sense of vertigo from the drop-kick, Weiss was put on defensive as she struggled to keep up with Ruby's onslaught.

Every time Weiss tried to gain distance by using her Semblance, Ruby would use her own Semblance to keep her pressure. The heiress then clicked the chamber on her Myrtenaster and stabbed her sword on the floor again, and Ruby suddenly had to blur backward to avoid a burst of ice spikes coming from the floor.

Ruby landed to see the ice spikes protecting Weiss, preventing her to get closer. Then, the latter conjured several red-orange glyphs around her, and fired a volley of fireballs at Ruby.

The younger girl managed to easily dodge and parry every single fireball coming her way, as she used her Semblance again to charge at Weiss. In the process, Ruby angled her Crescent Rose horizontally and she spun even faster, breaking the ice barrier that Weiss created upon contact. The force behind her blow also caused Weiss to be launched back until she hit the wall.

"And that's the match! The winner is Ruby Rose!"

Everyone blinked and saw that, while Ruby's aura gauge had been reduced by two-third, Weiss aura had reached orange, nearly red. The girl was still crouched on the floor, massaging her throbbing head. When Weiss slowly regained her clarity, she found a hand outstretched before her face. She looked up and see Ruby was offering her help to stand up.

Weiss glared for a bit between her supposedly team leader, her outstretched hand, and her own hands on the floor. A second later, she took a deep breath as she slowly grasped Ruby's hand, allowing the younger girl to pull her up.

"Good fight, Weiss!" Ruby said with a cheerful smile.

"...Yes." Weiss simply said as she pulled her hand back from Ruby's grasp, not willing to meet her eyes.

"Well done, you two." Glynda complimented as she approached the two girls with Claude in tow. "Anything you'd like to say, Mr. Cole?" The deputy turned to her assistant.

"Let's see… Ruby." Claude turned to his niece. "...That's a smooth drop-kick." he said with a small grin, eliciting a proud smile from Ruby and an eye-roll from Glynda. "And Weiss…." the heiress looked up, her expression clearly said that she was conflicted. "Your form is not bad - precise and coordinated, although it can use some work; but I suggest you do something about your endurance. When you go out to the field, you will bound to take hits. You need to learn how to take them, the same goes for you, Ruby."

Glynda closed her eyes, inwardly agreeing the points that Claude had laid out. Ruby nodded with thoughtful expression, and Weiss also nodded in acceptance.

"Other than that, you both show promise, but you both are also still green. What you need is more experience, something that I'm gonna drill into your head in future." Claude said with a somewhat unsettling smile, causing Ruby and Weiss to visibly shrink slightly, and Glynda to sigh softly. "That's all, I guess. Any question?"

When neither Ruby or Weiss said anything, Glynda then addressed the rest of the students. "That will be the class for today. Be sure to keep what you learn from the matches in mind and I will see all of you again in the next class. You are dismissed."

* * *

The students began to leave their seats towards the exit, Yang waved at her younger sister before she walked away with her partner in tow.

Ruby relaxed after waving back at Yang, and she turned to address her partner. "Hey, Weiss. That was…" however, she saw Weiss was already walking towards the door with somewhat heavy steps. She gave chase, and reached her hand out towards Weiss' shoulder as soon as she caught up.

"Weiss, wait-!"

"Don't touch me!"

Ruby flinched, pulling her hand back abruptly at Weiss' voice. Their eyes met, and when Weiss saw the look on Ruby's face, her own expression turned a little guilty from her outburst. "I…" she found herself not knowing what to say. "I… I want to be alone at the moment." she managed to say in the end.

"Oh… Okay." Ruby gave a small smile, although the small hurtful look still lingered on her face before vanishing. "Well, it's just…. If you want to talk, I'm always all ears."

Weiss only nodded at Ruby's words before she finally walked away. Looking worried, Ruby kept watching Weiss' retreating back until she found a hand rested on her shoulder. She turned to find Claude standing by her side, his eyes were also trained at Weiss, whom finally vanished at a corner.

"Sterling…" Ruby greeted, before she returned her eyes at the direction where Weiss just went to. "...Did I do something wrong?"

Claude only glanced at the girl before he gave a comforting squeeze on her shoulder. "Nah, you didn't." he said casually. "She just needs some time for herself, give her some space and she'll come around."

"Are you sure?" Ruby looked hopeful for a second before hesitation suddenly crept over again. "I mean… What if I actually did something wrong? What if I mess up?"

She suddenly found Sterling's hand on top of her head again, softly caressing her locks. "Ruby, everyone will bound to make mistakes at some point in life. Perfect people just don't exist." he said with a smile. "I mean, come on. This is just the first day of school, don't get moody already when there is still a long way waiting for you at Beacon." he then leaned closer to meet Ruby's silver eyes with his. "...The only moment you truly mess up, is when you choose to give up."

Ruby only stared at Claude, blinking every now and then. A few seconds later, even Claude felt awkward himself; he never considered himself as a wise kind of guy. "Look, I know being a leader can be very frustrating and all, but now that things had been said and done, what you can do now is have faith while keep doing your best."

Ruby looked down on the floor for a second before she looked up again. "Sterling… Are you the leader of your team? I mean, you do have a team, right?"

Claude blinked at the question, before he smiled slightly. "Yep. And, again, yes, I am the leader of my team." he said as he considered his team's status. His partner was going incognito, but Peter and Barty were still around, thus he concluded that his team was still around, albeit not completely.

"And…." Ruby suddenly gained an intrigued expression. "How did it go? How does it feel being a leader?"

"Like I said… _Frustrating_." Claude scoffed. "Especially when you got yourself a knob-head of the highest order for a partner."

Ruby found herself giggling at the remark. Unknown to her, she and Claude had made themselves comfortable by standing and leaning against the wall.

"But that's only at first, though." Claude quickly interjected. "Soon, I learned that even being a leader, there is one rule that I cannot go against; there is no 'I' in a team." he smiled knowingly at his niece. "Sure, a leader is the one who makes the final call and all, but then again, you cannot be a leader if you have _no one_ to be led."

Ruby nodded thoughtfully at Claude's words. "There were arguments, fights, and all stuff that made me questioned myself…. But in the end, my team was always there for me, making us relying on each other in the process." Claude said with a nostalgic smile. Ruby herself also found herself smiling at Claude's expression.

"...And you know what, I'll ask you this." Then, Claude turned his gaze back at Ruby. "Now that the position of team leader had been placed on you, what are you going to do with that _responsibility_?"

Ruby remained silent, taking Claude's words into heart. A few seconds later, she suddenly found her head being patted again.

"Just take it easy for now." Claude smiled as he took his leave. "You should hurry too, your team is probably waiting."

"Oh, that's right! I'll see you later! Thanks for the advice, Sterling!" Ruby's face lit up as she quickly ran past Claude. The man himself only shook his head in amusement.

As he watched Ruby's retreating back, Claude then found Glynda walked up next to him. The two simply watched Ruby made a turn at the corner and vanished from sight. A few seconds later, as the sound of Ruby's footsteps went further and further away, Claude finally broke the silence.

"So? How did I do?"

Glynda let out a breath. "Your choice of words could use a lot of work."

"Which one are you referring to?"

"Basically, all of them." Glynda replied without missing a beat. "Your so-called motivational speech until your supposedly words of wisdom towards Ms. Rose."

"...Hard to please as usual, aren't you?" Claude sighed at Glynda's remark.

Glynda's lips grew into a small smile. "If it's any consolation, you did say some good points. I suppose you do show some promise to be a teacher."

Claude scoffed, albeit he was smiling this time. "Gee, thanks for the confidence."

"Now that you have talked to Ms. Rose…" Glynda then glanced at him. "What are you going to do with Ms. Schnee?"

Claude then blinked. _That's right_ , he still had to deal with Weiss' issue as well. However, he merely shrugged. "Don't worry, I got her."

Glynda did not bother to retort at her charge's non-committal attitude, and she chose to leave it at that. "Just make sure to keep our first-year students together, _Mr. Cole_." she gave Claude one last look before she walked away as well.

Claude heaved another deep sigh before he left for his next destination as well.

* * *

Weiss was standing at the edge of one of Beacon Academy's balconies. Looking at the mountainous forest before her under afternoon sky - the orange hue is slowly turning darker by minutes. A few seconds later, she closed her eyes leaned back further on her seat as she heaved a deep sigh.

Today was a disaster for her - the match earlier should have shown everyone that she deserved to be her team leader more than a girl two years their junior. However, she failed to take into account about Ruby's Speed Semblance and was caught off guard, and things spiralled down from that point.

She had been bested in combat, by a girl she believed to be too young for something she herself had signed up for. She was not that stupid not to accept the obvious result after the match, but it took everything of her not to lash out like some kind of sore loser in front of everyone.

When she was still busy trying to accept about what happened, she sensed someone was approaching her. Was it Ruby, or someone else from her team? Perhaps she had gone away long enough, but she was still not in mood for talks. _Might as well get this quickly done and over with…_

She sighed and turned to address whoever was approaching her, only to widen her eyes at the sight of the newcomer.

"Good afternoon, Ms. Schnee." Headmaster Ozpin himself greeted with amiable smile as he held two cups of warm drinks with his hands.

"P-Professor Ozpin, sir!" Weiss found herself stuttering and abruptly straightened herself up to address the headmaster.

"At ease, young lady." Ozpin simply replied without dropping his smile. "The class has ended for today, I'm not here for anything official."

"Um… then, how can I help you?" Weiss managed to regain her outward composure, although she was still panicking inside. To be honest, speaking to the headmaster himself was the very last thing she needed, not with her turmoil still running around.

"I was only walking around for fresh air and I saw you sitting out here by yourself." Ozpin then offered her a cup. "...The wind is quite chilly, and I simply can't ignore a student in need, can I?"

Weiss looked between Ozpin and the mug offered to her, and soon she found that it was a perfect opportunity for her to turn the tides in her favour. Sure, her performance was not at best earlier, but maybe, just _maybe_ , the headmaster would want to listen to her? Besides, he had gone out his way to provide her something to warm herself up, it would be rude for her to refuse.

"If…. You don't mind, then." Weiss then slowly accepted the beverage and the two stood next to each other.

The two remained silent for some time. Weiss stared at the steaming dark liquid reflecting her expression for a few seconds before she took a sip - relishing the warm and the taste through her throat.

Ozpin himself also took a sip before he chose to approach the subject. "I've received the reports from Ms. Goodwitch and Mr. Cole. You've had your first match with Ms. Ruby, your partner."

"That…. Wasn't my best performance." Weiss retorted, her expression was filled with shame for a second. "...It won't happen again."

Ozpin simply hummed as he took another sip of his drink. "Anything else you'd like to say to me, Ms. Schnee?" he finally decided to waste no more time.

Weiss seemed to be on the same page and chose to go for it. "Professor Ozpin… Why did you pick Ruby as the leader of the team?"

Ozpin hummed before he closed his eyes. Weiss simply waited for the headmaster to speak again.

"I have several reasons for picking Ms. Rose to be the leader of team RWBY, with one of them being, that I see a potential in her."

Weiss was not amused at Ozpin's answer. "With all due respect, sir. I have studied and trained under tutelage of the best instructors provided by Atlas, with leadership and management being one of the lessons I took."

"Impressive, indeed." Ozpin nodded, causing Weiss' expression to brighten up slightly at the praise. "...But I fail to see where you are going with this claim of yours."

Thinking that Ozpin wanted her to come clean, Weiss decided to do so. Putting her mug down on the rail of the balcony, she spoke, "Sir, I believe I deserve to be the leader of team RWBY." She also decided to push the issue forward. "...And I'm afraid you made a mistake by choosing Ruby over me."

As soon as she had spoken, Weiss immediately regretted she said those words. Inwardly, she kept berating herself for her phrasing towards the _headmaster_ himself, the only person who had the power and authority to kick her out of Beacon should he wanted to.

However, when she looked at Ozpin's expression, he was sure as hell did not seem offended. Then again, her ambitious and logical side told her that she could not back down by the point. There was still a fair chance that Ozpin would understand her logic; and it was still the first day, headmaster could still make some altercation regarding team assignment.

Ozpin simply hummed as he gave a faraway look ahead of him, leaving Weiss waiting his answer with pensive expression.

"Ms. Schnee…."

Weiss swallowed a small lump when Ozpin addressed her; now was the moment of truth.

"I will admit that I have made mistakes more than any man, woman and child on this planet. But at this moment, I would not consider Ms. Rose's appointment as a leader to be one of them."

For some reason, Weiss' expression softened ever so slightly when she noticed a hint of melancholy in Ozpin's expression. However, the conviction in headmaster's tone prompted her to argue back.

"But, sir!" Weiss turned to face him completely. "I don't mean to go against your judgement, but as far as I know, Ruby is a child, she's not ready for this! I, on the other hand, am more prepared than she is!"

Ozpin glanced at the heiress. Upon seeing her face, his lips grew into a small smile, which he hid by taking another sip from his cup. In Weiss' expression, Ozpin saw confidence that border-lined to arrogance, rebellion, conviction, yet… there was also _concern_ ; that she cared for her team.

"That remains to be seen." Ozpin replied. "Ms. Schnee, while I appreciate your assessment, I cannot simply alter my decision. Not when I have yet to properly assess Ruby's actual capability to lead the team… nor yours, in the long run."

Weiss wanted to argue again, but she held her tongue, noticing the point in Ozpin's words. "After all, it's only first day. A little too soon to judge what a student can and can't do, is it not?"

Weiss blushed lightly at Ozpin's knowing smile. The way the headmaster implied that she jumped to conclusion so quick made her having second thoughts.

"There are many good points between Ms. Rose and you, Ms. Schnee." Ozpin's next words managed to catch Weiss' attention again.

"Ms. Rose is young and has room to grow, as well as exceptional skill with her scythe. You have a cool head on your shoulders and in terms of academics are one of the brightest Beacon's had the pleasure of having in its halls."

Weiss seemed to be pleased at the headmaster's assessment about her, although she felt that he was not finished yet.

"However, there are also a number of faults. As you said, Ms. Rose is young, and she couldn't possibly know everything, having graduated two years ahead of her class. And you with your temperament, having led a pampered life style. I won't claim to know what kind of history you've had growing up, but you clearly have trouble accepting matters that don't go your way."

"That's-!" Weiss wanted to refute the remark, but she could not put much power in her voice. "...Not entirely true."

"I have confidence in my observation skill, Ms. Schnee." Ozpin said with a knowing smile. "Your expression spoke volumes of how you feel when I announced your team." his words elicited another blush from the heiress.

"Allow me to tell you, Ms. Schnee…" Ozpin then snapped Weiss out of her reverie. "My school is a place of learning, and another one of reasons I appointed Ms. Rose to be the leader, is to teach her about responsibility. There is no point if I chose you as a leader, when you have learned how to become one back in Atlas, is there?"

Weiss found herself mulling over Ozpin's words, slowly seeing the whole point.

"Considering that you are the one to possess the knowledge, isn't it your duty to guide your young leader, of how to properly lead the team? In the meantime, you can also improve yourself to be a better comrade, a better person."

Weiss gave Ozpin's advice another deep thought; the headmaster had a point - perhaps Ruby _could_ be a good leader. Besides, she did end up following her _lead_ at some point during the initiation. Then again, guiding her partner to properly lead the team, was not different than herself leading them, in a sense.

"I understand, professor." Weiss smiled and curtsied, feeling that she could accept things as they were. "Thank you for the advice… and the coffee." she then blushed again. "And… I apologize for my earlier outburst."

"It is fine, Ms. Schnee." Ozpin smiled pleasantly. "Rather, I found it a tad refreshing to have a student willing to speak honestly to me. The entire faculty is ready to listen whenever you have concerns for the duration of your study at Beacon."

With brighter smile, Weiss curtsied once again before she left the balcony, leaving Ozpin behind.

A few minutes later, when Ozpin was about to leave, he saw someone else entered the balcony.

"Y'know, I was wondering when I saw Ice Queen ran past me with a smile on her face." Claude walked towards Ozpin with a friendly expression on his face. "...I guess you beat me to give her a pep-talk."

Ozpin nodded at the young man. "Good work for today, Mr. Cole."

"Oz." Claude nodded as the two stood next to each other.

"So, what do you think of the first years so far?" Ozpin began the conversation.

"So far, so good. I mean, it's only the first day, remember?"

"Hm…" Ozpin hummed in agreement. "...Any news about your old partner?"

"Not really…" Claude's expression went down for a bit. "Rome has always been sneaky like that. It's gonna take time even for me to track him down."

"He will come around." Ozpin replied, and Claude nodded in agreement. The latter then spotted another mug nearby and took it.

"Well, for what it's worth…." Claude then raised the mug. "For the coming, interesting four years?"

Ozpin quirked an eyebrow at the toasting gesture, but he played along in the end. The two shared a toast with their mugs and downed the contents in one go.

"You do realise that what you drank was originally Ms. Schnee's?"

Claude simply raised an eyebrow at the headmaster. "Yeah, so?" He simply shrugged without a care.

Ozpin also shrugged in return. "Just so you know."

* * *

Later at night, Ruby just finished her review on her notes and homework from the class that day. Things ended up well for her in the end; Weiss had come around and gave her a cup of coffee with five creams and sugar - just the way she liked to brew it, as a peace offering.

Not to mention, Weiss also gave her some pointers on her notes. Ruby smiled as she prepared for bed, they would be besties for the next four years, no _forever_.

As she tucked herself under the blanket, her thoughts drifted to her newest teacher. She could not understand, but when she met Sterling for the first time at Patch, there was something… _familiar_ about him, something that stirred something in her stomach. He possessed a pair of silver eyes like her and her mother.

She then recalled the time she spent talking with Sterling; the man was easy-going, fun, and he also shared her hobby about weaponry. When she arrived at Beacon, he was the one who became… her first _friend_ \- older, and teacher, sure, but a friend nonetheless.

Then the initiation happened; Ruby still remembered clearly how far Sterling outclassed the entire participants. Even with handicaps, those who passed the initiation had been treading on thin ice.

However, what put the most impression in her mind was, when Sterling rescued her from the Grimm that blindsided her. Watching his back, the tale of heroes and huntsmen which Yang used to tell her for bedtime stories, suddenly came back to her, causing her face to heat up.

Finally, there was the moment where he encouraged her, comforted her. The hand that caressed her head was soft, warm, it made her feel safe. Her thoughts slowly brought a smile upon her face.

 _Let's give him a warm, welcome home, okay?_

Ruby blinked; _what was that?_ That line just suddenly popped out in her mind, spoken in her mother's voice. She scrunched up her eyebrows, trying to make any connection between that line and Sterling, but later, she could not think of anything.

In the end, she sighed as she decided to wrap things up in her mind and go to sleep. However, her hand found its way on top of her head, particularly on the spot where Sterling patted her. Remembering the warm feeling of his hand, Ruby silently giggled in her sleep.

* * *

 **I'm sorry if this chapter is rather short; I just can't bring myself to pro-long the whole thing, it feels... unnatural.**

 **Enough of that, please review of what you think of this bit, while I will formulate equations for what will happen in Jaunedice event.**

 **Ahsoei, over and out.**


	11. Jaunedice (I)

**RWBY: The Redeemer**

* * *

 **I just watched what Ruby's Silver Eyes did to those Apathy Grimm in episode 6... HOLY SHIT.**

 **Well, without further ado, enjoy and R &R!**

* * *

 **Beta read by Starlight's Poet**

 **Chapter 10 - Jaunedice (I)**

It was another new morning at Beacon Academy, as Pyrrha Nikos woke up earlier than her teammates in her dorm room, per her daily routine dictated. The discipline that she had trained upon herself ever since she had participated in Mistral Regional Tournament for the first time.

She looked around her room, the light of sunrise shone through the small gaps of the curtain, illuminating a small, middle part of the room. Still, it was enough for her to get a clear vision of her sleeping teammates - no, her new _friends_. She smiled at the sight of them.

Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren actually knew of her and her fame in Mistral; having grown up there together. However, they were willing, and able to see past her fame, and talk to her as a person, albeit in their own way.

Nora's bubbly persona and the way she acted around her like a child, made it impossible for Pyrrha to dislike her. In fact, Nora was more excited at the fact that Pyrrha was a mascot for a cereal box rather than a tournament champion - which Pyrrha found amusing.

Lie Ren, on the other hand, had a calm demeanour that allowed him to see Pyrrha as a teammate and fellow student of Beacon Academy instead of some untouchable celebrity, a gesture that Pyrrha could wholeheartedly respect without difficulty.

Her smile widened when her eyes laid upon the sight of her team leader - Jaune Arc. While Ren and Nora had semblances of respect and reverence towards her achievements, the awkward blonde completely did not know her; hence he approached and talked to her as if she was just another normal girl - which sounded like a music to her ears.

In addition, he had made a good impression through his tactical mind during initiation, allowing them to get around and ambush a veteran huntsman, thus landing them a spot on Beacon Academy. Not to mention, his attitude, as well as the onesie he put on for a sleepwear, kind of made him looked adorable in her eyes.

Snapping out her reverie, Pyrrha then proceeded to wash her face and get change in the bathroom, preparing herself for her morning exercise. Stepping out from the dorm in a red jersey tracksuit, she took a deep breath of morning air and did a few stretches before she started jogging, enjoying the fresh morning atmosphere as she added small bounces in her steps.

Following a footpath around the dormitory and campus buildings, Pyrrha later found a familiar back jogging ahead of her. She picked up her pace to catch up, and soon she found that the said person was Sterling Cole in his own tracksuit, sporting earphones and listening to music as he jogged lightly.

"Good morning." she greeted as she matched her speed next to her teacher.

oXo

Claude took the earphone off his right ear as soon as he heard someone running and greeting next to him. He glanced to find one Pyrrha Nikos jogging next to him. "Oh, g'morning. How you doin'?"

The girl smiled at the casual greeting as she matched her pace with the man next to her. "I'm fine, thank you. I hope you slept well last night."

"Yeah, I did." Claude smiled at the gesture. "How 'bout you? How's the room? More like, how's your roomates?"

Somehow noticing the small inside joke, Pyrrha gave a small giggle. She never really heard anything about a huntsman of Sterling Cole's calibre before, but then again, he was a recent graduate of Beacon Academy at Vale, while she was from Mistral at different continent entirely.

To be honest, Pyrrha kind of expected a stricter or more formal attitude when it came to interactions with staff of Beacon Academy. However, Sterling gave her a refreshing learning experience that she did not find at Sanctum Academy, particularly from his speech during the first combat class.

She did not like to brag, but she did, in fact, defeat her own instructors back at Sanctum in multiple spars. While it boosted her confidence at first, it also push her further away from her peers - _a truly invincible girl that could best even the likes of a veteran_.

She believed even more that moving to Beacon was a correct decision. She had friends that would look her as their equals, and a teacher that made her want to improve herself even more. Sterling's words in regards of their match only built her growing respect even higher.

At that time, Pyrrha believed that her life at Beacon would change forever.

"Following the order…." Pyrrha then returned to the current conversation and replied to Claude's question. "I had a good night sleep, the room is comfortable, and my friends had been _wonderful_ so far."

The two spent the rest of their morning run by exchanging small talks together, until Claude had to excuse himself earlier so he could prepare for the day, with Pyrrha also following soon after, back to her room.

* * *

Claude narrowed his eyes critically at the predicament before him - an awkward-looking blonde teenager holding a sword and shield.

It was another day of Glynda Goodwitch's combat class, and after fighting Pyrrha Nikos, as well as observing Ruby Rose and Weiss Schnee on the other day, Claude intended to complete his full assessment on the rest of the first-years' combat abilities, either by fighting them directly or pitting them against one another.

Nora Valkyrie was the most eager to have the first round - Claude had to say that the girl was full of energy. It was surprising, yet not surprising at the same time, to see a girl could swing a hammer with Magnhild's size with such ease. It was either Nora was talented in her own way, or she had a _really_ good teacher.

Not to mention, Claude was still impressed at the hybrid technology that implanted into the weapon, which allowed the hammer to transform into a grenade launcher. After all, back in his day, transforming weapons were still considered uncommon.

In addition, Nora's Semblance also allowed her to be a great asset in either solo or team battle, not to mention that it was a counter for Claude's own Semblance. She could channel electricity current that was inflicted to her own body, to enhance her strength; although she could not generate electric current itself. However, Claude deemed there was still a slight chance of possibility for her to develop such ability with enough training.

The next contender was Yang Xiao Long; not unlike Nora, albeit she preferred to use her fists - in which the hits were enhanced by her shotgun gauntlets Ember Celica. She packed a mean punch, and that was not counting her Semblance.

Claude easily recognised that her fighting style was based on her father, and her Semblance could absorb hits inflicted upon her to boost her own strength in return, but the damages themselves did not actually heal. That aside, Claude could see that Yang was potentially the physically strongest first-year students in Beacon, along with Nora.

Much to Claude's amusement, Yang's Semblance was accompanied with her blonde hair _lit up_ in flames, and her lilac-coloured eyes turned into a familiar shade of red orbs.

However, while Yang's hand-to-hand was not bad, her fighting style was obviously based on her father, but due to her lack of wits and experience, Claude found her moves _so_ easy to predict. Not to mention, she had a short fuse that made it easier for Claude to exploit several, amateurish openings out of her. Personally, Claude thought that fighting Taiyang was more difficult.

One more thing - _watched the hair._ Apparently, Yang took _really_ good care of her golden mane.

Next one was Lie Ren. His weapon, Storm Flower - a twin hybrid knife and automatic pistol, did not possess much fire power, but its firing rate was kind of nuisance to him.

Unlike how Nora and Yang aggressively engaging him, Ren's stoic and calm look made him hard to get a read on, much to Claude's slight annoyance. The boy in green was certainly not bad, pretty average, rather, a normal kind of good. However, perhaps Ren's constant calmness was his special edge on the battlefield. The boy was cool and smooth as a cucumber.

What really caught Claude's attention, however, was Ren's control over his aura. Claude did not know of Ren's Semblance yet, but the latter's martial arts style allowed him to utilise Aura not only as a shield, but as an offensive weapon as well.

Thus, so far, Claude was rather impressed.

Blake Belladonna had a similar calm air like Ren. However, there was one distinction.

She was agile, her movements were sharp, and her Semblance made her hard to hit. In fact, Claude dared to say that among team RWBY, Blake most likely was the most skillful.

However, through his observation, Claude also noticed there was some edge in the way Blake carried herself. Sure, she was calm and not easily taunted like Ren, but there was a sense of _experience_ ; as if she was no stranger to combat.

By combat, Claude did not mean the type where the combatants followed the words of a referee; he meant a _real_ combat, where lives were on the line, where defeat could very well mean _death_.

However, everything was different, not in a good way, with Claude's current opponent - Jaune Arc. The teacher could not help but quirked his eyebrows.

 _What the hell is he doing?_

There were tons of opening in Jaune's stance, his footing was not steady enough, and the way he held his sword and shield - Crocea Mors was just…. _Awkward_.

Claude knew that Jaune's transcript was forged and the boy did not have a drop of aura before the initiation. But he could not be _that_ bad, could he? After all, he did manage to catch him off-guard and stole a relic from him, even with his friends backing him up.

One might have thought that Jaune's awkward stance was a bait to some kind of trap, but Claude quickly dismissed the idea as he took another look at the blonde's face. The kid was a nervous wreck, Claude could even see the subtle shakings of his opponent's limbs.

In conclusion, Jaune Arc had no idea what he was doing, and what he should have done.

"Et tu….You okay, man?" Claude ended up asking; after all, there was still a chance that Jaune might be under the weather.

"Huh?" Jaune blinked as if he just snapped out of a stupor. "Oh, um… Yeah… Yeah, I'm good." His grip on his weapon tightened, his feet shuffled a bit, but his stance was not turning any better.

Narrowing his eyes slightly, Claude then nodded before using his free hand to gesture his sparring partner to come at him. Jaune quickly caught the cue, after taking another breath, he roared and dashed at Claude.

" _So slow!"_ Claude could not help but think as he watched Jaune marching towards him. _"Is he really using his sword? Why is he flailing his shield like that?!"_

In the end, as soon as Jaune was within arm's length, Claude simply threw a quick left jab right at Jaune's face. The hit caused Jaune to stop, before he staggered and fell on his rear with his nose throbbing and vision swimming.

Claude himself only watched Jaune dazed and struggled to stand back up. "...The hell, bro?" He was not even trying; Claude came to a new conclusion, Jaune Arc was indeed _that_ bad, if not worse.

As Jaune slowly got back on his feet, Claude sent a look at Glynda, who only replied with quirking an eyebrow without a word. When Jaune regained his vision and was about to charge again, Claude held his palm up.

"Alright, stop right there!"

 _Huh?_

Not only Jaune, but the rest of the students blinked at Claude's sudden outburst. Glynda, on the other hand, simply showed a curious expression. "You are doing this wrong." Claude then walked up to Jaune, and he suddenly used his legs to push Jaune's own feet a bit more apart, and used his hands to fix Jaune's posture. "You're way too high up and too close together. "Spread your legs a bit more and get closer to the ground."

Once Claude had made sure that Jaune had a better stance, he then backed away. "Right, now shield up facing the opponent!"

Automatically, Jaune raised his shield as instructed.

"Sword ready!"

Out of instinct, Jaune positioned his sword behind, ready to strike at any moment.

" _Now that's better."_ Claude nodded; _there's still hope for the kid_ …. _Probably._ "Okay… let's try again."

Despite the quick course that Claude had given, Jaune could not help but still feel nervous as Claude charged at him this time.

* * *

It was after the class had ended for the day, noise of tinkering and gears rotating was filling a certain room.

"20 mm wrench, please."

Claude asked as he extended his hand open, expecting something to land on it. His eyes, however, remained focus through the magnifying lenses, on a small metal contraptions on the table.

"The blue one with adjustable prongs or the red one?"

Ruby asked in front of a toolbox, both hands were sporting the tools she just mentioned.

"The blue one." Claude gave a quick glanced at the girl, whom then handed him the requested item.

More sounds of metal tinkering were heard in the forgery room of Beacon Academy as Claude and Ruby - as promised, were working on the former's new weapon.

Claude finally put down his tools - the wrench he asked from Ruby and a couple of screwdrivers. Letting out a breath, he took a look at his handiwork - a machine with several gears contrapted.

He played with the contraption for several times, watching the gears turned in both clockwise and counter-clockwise.

"It looks good so far. Thoughts?" Claude asked his student.

Ruby took another magnifier and inspected the device with a critical look, playing the gears with her hands a little, before she backed away. "It's your weapon…. But considering the size, maybe we need to use a tougher polymer to keep it from falling apart from strain."

"Good thinking; we can note it down for later. For now, let's move on to another part." Claude then turned on his seat to look around the room. "...Your sister is kind of taking a while."

Speak of the devil, the door to the room suddenly opened, revealing Yang Xiao-Long carrying a box under her armpit. "Hey, Sterling! I got this package per your reference!" the blonde brawler strode toward her sister and her teacher, and put the sizeable cardboard box on the table top.

"Thanks, Yang." Claude nodded as he tore the box with a cutter. He gave a quick look at the content and nodded, before he picked it out with both of his hands.

"Sterling…" Ruby's silver eyes blinked at the object on Claude's palms. "Is that what I think it is? Are you…?"

"Yep, I'm planning to incorporate the use of Dust for my Shatter Storm. This is the new Dust Chamber that I can get my hands on the market." Claude smiled at the device.

"That… definitely looks expensive." Yang eyeing the package. "How could you afford that?"

"Beacon's expense." Claude replied without missing a beat. "...And Ozpin had given it a go, so it's fine." the girls nodded at him.

Then, the timer at the corner of the table suddenly rang, prompting Claude to turn it off. "Okay, the shield is ready for tampering." He said as he turned towards the furnace.

Ruby dutifully opened the furnace door, releasing the hot air trapped within across the room. Considering the size of the shield, both Sterling and Ruby had to work together of pulling the piping hot metal out of the fire onto the platform.

"Okay, Ruby. Keep it steady on that end." both Claude and Ruby adjusted their tangs on the hot plate, while Claude reached for a hammer. The man then remembered what time it was. "Oh, right. Yang, can you clean up the table?"

The blonde looked at the table, and it was quite a mess. Tools, drinks and papers sprawled around, not to mention the goods that Claude worked on.

"Got it." Yang nodded. "Everything go to the shelves?"

"Yes, to the shelves…. Except the papers. I still need those."

"Sure." Yang smiled and she began working, at the same time that Claude began to slam the hammer down.

The three began to work in comfortable silence. Yang was tidying the desk, sorting boxes and tools back on the shelves; Ruby was making sure that she was keeping the hot metal in place, while Claude kept tampering the metal with the hammer.

Eventually, Yang finished her task easily enough, and was now sitting and watching her sister and teacher forging the new weapon together; and Yang Xiao Long prefered to spend the time interacting rather than silence.

Fortunately, the silence was broken soon enough without her doing anything.

"So, tell me." Claude asked as he kept working on the tampered hot metal. "...How's life going for you in Beacon so far?"

Ruby and Yang glanced at one another, before the latter decided to reply first. "Well, things are pretty cool so far. My partner, Blake is kind of hard to talk with, but it's just matter of time until she opened up." She finished with a shrug.

"Things are great on my end too!" Ruby chirped in, and her expression went awkward for a second. "Well…. There are some bumps, like Weiss being difficult…. But she's coming around! In fact, she's-!"

"Ruby!"

The door slammed open, revealing an infuriated Weiss Schnee with a couple of books in her arms. "So this is where you've been!" She then strode towards towards the shocked-looking Ruby, even Claude paused on his work, watching the scene along with Yang with curious and amused looks.

"W-Weiss!?" Ruby spluttered. "What are you doing here?! I've done my homework!"

"And it's no good!" Weiss flipped open a book and shove the pages at her partner. "You are going to review and re-do this from the start!"

Ruby looked at her homework in horror, then she looked around in panic for any excuse she could use. "B-but, but…! I still have to help Sterling, and it's… it's almost lunch time!"

"That's why I'll help you do it now _before_ lunch. At worst, we will work on this _during_ lunch." Weiss replied. "Besides, you can't keep using Mr. Cole as an excuse to ditch your duty as a student!"

Ruby turned at her teacher, sporting a puppy-eyed look with hope that he would come to her rescue.

Claude closed his smile and smiled at his niece's face. Sure, Ruby was adorable, but unfortunately for her, he had gotten used to deal with Summer's own puppy eyes. "Ruby, remember our deal?" he then met his eyes with hers. "...You promise that you will do your best at your studies. So you gotta go." He said with stern, yet gentle tone. "Besides, you've done plenty enough in helping me. I can take it from here on my own."

Ruby whined with a pout, with Weiss sighing and Yang gave a good-natured smile. "Come on, Ruby. Blake probably has reserved us some seats together with JNPR." The heiress gently laid her hand on Ruby's shoulder.

"Fine…" The younger girl sighed, choosing to keep her word. "We'll see you later, Sterling!" she flashed a weak, yet genuine smile at her teacher as she left the room. Weiss gave a polite smile and nod before following her leader, while Yang simply winked playfully at him - a gesture which Claude returned with a wave of his hand.

As soon as the three girls had left, Claude then returned to the hot metal before him. "Well, time to go back to work…" he then began to hammer the metal again, all while re-assessing his evaluation on the first year students.

* * *

Ruby slumped on the table with relieved sigh escaping her lips. She and her partner were sitting together with JNPR for lunch. "Hoo….. I actually made it."

"Yes, you did. Good job." Weiss smiled with a nod while tidying the books and papers on the table - the homework that Ruby managed to finish for the last half an hour before lunch time started.

Next to Ruby, Pyrrha kindly patted Ruby's shoulder with encouraging smile, the gesture that Ruby appreciated a lot. Ren was busy weathering Nora's usual antics, while Jaune was uncharacteristically quiet. Team JNPR had gotten their menus, while Yang and Blake just returned with two trays of food which was enough for four people.

"Here you go, sis. Complete with chocolate chip cookies as you asked." Yang grinned as she laid both of her share and her sister, while Blake put down hers and Weiss'.

The heiress eyed her food for a second before she nodded at the raven-haired girl. "Thank you, Blake." she said with a small smile, which Blake returned in kind.

"Thanks, Yang!" Ruby immediately cheered up and reached her hand towards the sugary treats. Weiss rolled her eyes at the odd choice of Ruby's eating order - usually cookies always went for _desert_ , not appetizer.

"Right!" Nora slammed her palms on the table and stood up, garnering everyone's attention on the table. "So there's this thing happened… in the middle of the night, last night!"

"It was middle of the day…" Ren immediately retorted with the tone that bordered between calmness and laziness.

The lunch went on light atmosphere as Nora re-told her apparent dream during her sleep on the other night, with Ren provided constant retort to water-down his partner's exaggerated tale.

Everyone's reaction varied - Pyrrha was listening out of courtesy, Ruby and Yang were listening while eating out of boredom and curiosity, while Blake and Weiss pretty much ignored the bubbly girl, listening every now and then, in case if there was actually anything interesting in Nora's 'epic adventure'.

During the whole affair, Pyrrha notice that Jaune had yet to utter a word, absentmindedly playing with his food.

"Jaune?" Pyrrha asked her partner. "Are you okay?"

"Huh?" In response, Jaune looked _spooked_ , blinked his eyes a few times before he finally realised that someone else was talking to him. "Oh, Pyrrha. Err… Yeah, I'm good. Why do you ask?" Jaune managed to smile, but his partner managed to notice that the smile was forced.

Apparently, Ruby also caught on when she heard Pyrrha addressing Jaune. "Well… It just seems you look… not okay." she commented a bit awkwardly. "Is something wrong?"

This time, everyone on the table shifted their attention to the blonde, either out of concern or curiosity.

"Guys, really, I'm fine." Jaune repeated, trying to make it more convincing by giving a thumbs-up, as well as a quick laugh. "See?"

The first-years tried to see if there was anything wrong with Jaune, but doing so also allowed them to notice their surroundings; there were whispers and looks directed to them.

[Are those the only first-years around?]

[Yeah, apparently the new teacher just decimated almost all of the new students, leaving only those eight to pass.]

[I don't know about this new teacher, but the newbies should be promising, right? All things considered.]

[Besides, look. That's Pyrrha Nikos. And there's the kid who's rumoured to skip two years from Signal.]

Apparently, being the only first-years that passed the initiation would attract attention from senior students towards team RWBY and JNPR. However, the first-year students were not the only gossip material.

[And this new teacher… Who is this guy again?]

[I dunno. Some recent graduate of Beacon Academy.]

[Really? I never heard of this guy during my time here before.]

[Again, I dunno. I heard Ozpin scouted him personally.]

Team RWBY and JNPR automatically tried to listen more of what they could learn about a person known as Sterling Cole.

[How's he like?]

[I saw his combat lesson earlier, he beat the Invincible Girl in one on one.]

[For real?!]

[Yeah, man! This teacher's a badass! Not to mention, you should have heard his first speech. That guy knows his crowd. He sounds pretty funny to me.]

[I kind of curious to have him teaching my combat class…]

The first-years found themselves amused at the talks between the other students. However, not all of them were good.

[Speaking of combat lesson… Did you see the blonde kid earlier?]

The first-years blinked and turned to look at Jaune, who looked frozen at his mentioning.

[Yeah, that's guy a joke. Sure, I've seen worse, but did he really graduate from a combat school with that kind of skill?]

[It might be a miracle that he was able to pass the initiation.]

[I heard he's partnered with the Invincible Girl… Lucky bastard, perhaps it's thanks to her he made it here.]

[...Or we could say the girl got the shorter end of the stick.]

Ruby and Pyrrha sent worried looks to Jaune, who was looking down with shame plastered over his face. The rest of others were not sure how to approach.

Feeling the need to do something, Pyrrha settled a comforting hand on Jaune's shoulder. "It's okay, Jaune. Don't mind them." she said with squeeze of her hand. "...They don't know anything, and you have four years to prove them wrong."

"Or to prove them right." Jaune shrugged with sarcasm.

"Come on, Jaune. It's not that bad, not everyone can be good right off the bat." Ruby quipped in. "I mean, I did suck a lot until my uncle taught me how to fight, and even now, I'm still no good when it comes to hand-to-hand. You'll get better, everyone does."

Jaune wanted to retort, but he still knew better when he could practically see and hear Ruby's sincerity. Pyrrha also sent the younger girl a grateful nod.

"I guess so..." As a matter of fact, Ruby's words managed to alleviate Jaune's mood.

However, before the conversation could have gone further, the door of mess hall was opened, revealing the person of the topic.

oXo

When Claude entered the mess hall to get some lunch of his own, he suddenly found, pretty much every student stealing glances at him while murmuring amongst themselves. Deciding to ignore the rumour mill around him, Claude then walked through the hall and got a tray of full set lunch on his own.

" _Hm… I wonder if the taste will stay the same after 20 years…"_ Claude pondered as he glanced at his tray, while he looked for a table to sit on. His silver eyes then spotted a group of familiar first-years, with a girl sporting a hooded cloak waving at him, beckoning him to come over.

Smiling at the invitation, Claude then made his way towards the table. "'Sup, kids." He greeted jovially as he took a seat.

"Hey, Sterling." Ruby greeted. "How did the forging go?"

"The shield's main frame is in the cooler. If things go well, tomorrow I probably can start to assemble the gears and modify the Dust chamber." Claude replied as he took a bite, before he glanced at Ruby. "So did you finally finish your homework?"

"Yep, no problems whatsoever." Ruby said while puffing out her chest, her face was somewhat smug.

Claude simply turned to Weiss with raised eyebrows, which the girl only returned with a twitch of her lips downwards and her hands implying between 'so-so' and 'barely'. Some others simply giggled in amusement, while Ruby, who noticed the exchange, pouted at her partner.

"So…" Claude said as he chewed and swallowed another bite. "I already asked Ruby and Yang here; how are things going for you kids at Beacon?"

"So far so good." Blake simply replied while her eyes did not leave the book that she had been reading for a while.

"Things are not the most ideal, but still acceptable." Weiss replied, garnering several flat looks from her teammates.

Team JNPR also followed suit.

"Things are well enough at the moment."

"Things are awesome here!"

"I find them refreshing so far."

"Yeah… it's good."

Ren, Nora and Pyrrha turned towards Jaune's less enthusiastic response. Claude himself was also intrigued by the development. "...Did I miss something?"

"Well…" Pyrrha was not sure how to explain things. "Jaune is…"

Fortunately, Claude understood fairly quickly when he caught several lingering sneers and mocking stares at the blonde boy.

Claude sighed as he put down his utensils. "Well, I can't deny that you do _suck_."

The JNPR winced and lightly cringed at Claude's blunt statement, while Ruby and Yang sending him looks that questioned his attitude. "However, I suggest you ignore them, Mr. Arc."

Claude's sudden shift in his speech caused Jaune to look at him. Knowing that he got the boy's attention, Claude pushed forward. "While I won't deny that the comparing and everything in competitive environment can help motivating people to perform better, that's not exactly the main focus of a learning place like schools."

Those words finally garnered not only Jaune's, but the rest of JNPR and team RWBY's attention as well. "Your focus as students is not to compare each other's sizes, but to understand your own sizes." Claude finished with a small grin.

The phrasing garnered several reactions. Yang snorted at the joke, hiding her trembling smile behind her fist. Blake seemed to furrow her eyebrows at Claude from behind her book, her cheeks reddened. Weiss was blushing while scowling at her supposed teacher; while Ruby only nodded slightly, entirely missing the innuendo.

Team JNPR also gave not dissimilar reaction; Ren simply coughed into his fist, Nora was grinning, and Pyrrha was blushing like Weiss. Jaune, on the other hand, actually smiled wryly as he got the joke, but could not bring himself to laugh.

"Did you have to say it like that?" Weiss commented with disgusted tone.

"Why? You _do_ need to understand the size and measures of your skills, your limits… You know, if you want to improve. What did you take my words for?" Claude simply replied with teasing smile.

"Yeah, Weiss-cream. What did occur in your mind?" Yang also quipped, causing Weiss to grumble with her flush deepened, as Claude and Yang shared a victory high-five.

"Anyway!" Weiss decided to forcefully shift the topic, as she glared at Claude. "Aren't you supposed to have lunch at the teacher's lounge, _Mr. Cole_?" The way she addressed him emphasized that she was only a few seconds away from blowing up.

"First of all, I don't recall there's a rule that prohibits a teacher to eat here." Claude shrugged. "Secondly, the reason the teachers have their own rooms is because sometimes, they still have to do some paperwork even in lunch time, they will need the least amount of distraction as possible."

"And don't you have your own… you know, paperwork?" Blake looked up from her reading.

"...That leads to my third and final point." Claude sent a look at the girl. "I'm still a trainee, and what I have to do is to submit a daily report, which I will do later tonight."

Blake simply shrugged and nodded her head slightly in acceptance, while Weiss huffed without any further verbal retaliation. Meanwhile, Ruby looked confused about something.

"Um… Guys?" Ruby asked, her eyes darting between Weiss, Yang and Claude. "What's wrong with what Sterling said about sizes?"

Claude and Yang only blinked at the younger girl before the two glanced at each other awkwardly. The latter glanced at Weiss for help, but the said girl only looked away as if saying _, "You brought this upon yourself."_

Yang turned to her partner for help, but Blake simply ignored her in favour of her current reading. When Yang turned back at Claude, however, he was standing up. "I'm gonna get some drinks." He said in hurried manner, planning to ditch Yang alone in the predicament; making her lilac eyes widened at the betrayal.

" _That son of a…!"_

However, in his haste, Claude accidentally bumped to someone as soon as he turned around his heels.

A tray filled with plates and glass of food and drinks splattered on the floor, some specks of gravy, sauce and milk also ended up on Claude's clothes, as well as the other victim's; whom was knocked down on the floor.

"I-I'm sorry!" Whoever Claude just bumped into, immediately apologized while frantically tried to clean up the mess.

"No, no. It's my bad." Claude returned the apology as he also helped picking up the pieces. He looked up and saw that he was talking to a girl with a pair of rabbit ears sticking out from her long, brown hair - a faunus.

Automatically, the first-years also stood up from their seats to help out. Blake, in particular, came over to help the new girl standing up. Ruby and Yang were also kneeling down to help out picking up the mess, while Weiss ended up only watching, since she happened to stand up later than the rest. Team JNPR volunteered to fetch some cleaning equipment.

The crowd who was watching at first at the commotion, began to return to their own business when they found that things had pretty much gone back under control. Soon enough, the mess on the floor was cleaned up; Claude and the rest of the first years were talking to the faunus girl. Ruby, Weiss and Yang were standing on Claude's side, while Blake was standing the closest to the newcomer - her hand was holding her arm supportively.

"Again, I'm so very sorry." the brunette said with nervous expression, her hands were huddled together.

"Come on, I was the one who suddenly bumped into you without looking. Why are you the one apologizing?" Claude waved off with easy going smile.

"But… Still…" the girl's eyes were darting around between Claude's tainted suit and her own.

Not wanting to escalate things even further, Claude sighed. "Look… I knocked you down, and ruined your lunch. We both got each others' clothes dirty. So let me help you get a new lunch and we can call it even. Cool?" He said as he held his arms up amicably.

A few seconds of pondering later, the girl thankfully looked less nervous, as she finally grew a small smile. "...If you don't mind, then. Thank you."

"No problem. It's my fault to begin with, Miss…?" Claude realised that he never got her name.

The girl perked up to introduce herself. "Scarlatina, Velvet Scarlatina of team CFVY. Nice to meet you." She finished her greeting with a nod.

"Cole, Sterling. At your service." Claude placed a hand over his chest as his eyes inspect Velvet's uniform. "You are… a second-year, correct? Where's your team?" He asked while looking around. It was kind of weird that her team had yet to come after the commotion.

"Um… Yes, yes, I am." Velvet nodded sheepishly. "As for my team, they…"

Speak of the devil, the door opened once again, revealing three individuals - one female and two males. "Velvet, you okay?!" The female ran forward as she and the other two approached Velvet.

All of them were sporting Beacon Academy uniforms; the female was a young woman wearing a beret hat and sunglasses, a choice of fashion that Claude honestly did not expect to see within academy grounds.

The next person was a young man with dark skin and messy copper hair. His eyes were pure white - Claude thought that he might be blind, but chose not to call out on it. The man also sported a vertical scar across his lips, showcasing his experience.

The last made Claude looking up - _that's one tall guy for a second-year_. His skin was tanned, his shaved, short black hair and calm expression made his face screamed discipline. Yet Claude noticed the way he stood protectively before Velvet, hinting a softer persona beneath the intimidating appearance.

"Coco!" Velvet turned around to address the girl with sunglasses. "Yes, I'm fine. These people just helped me."

"I see…." The girl - Coco, regarded Claude and the first years, then returned on Claude again, eyeing him up and down. "Say…. you are that rumoured new teacher around? With the only new students for this year." She asked as she tilted her sunglasses down, revealing a pair of curious dark-brown eyes.

Seeing the confident approach upon his person, Claude thought the two could play at the game. "Yes, that's me. Sterling Cole at your service." Claude offered his hand, which Coco shook firmly.

"Coco Adel, leader of CFVY, a pleasure." the woman's smile widened at the introduction.

"And these are my charge, team RWBY and JNPR." Claude then gestured at the first-year teams; the former was already standing in line, while the latter just finished cleaning up the mess on the floor.

"Hm, looking good, kiddos." Coco waved at her juniors, who seemed slightly awkward to return the friendly, yet sudden gesture, safe for Yang and Nora. "Anyway, thanks for helping out our bunny cake." her remarks caused Velvet to blush storms. "...But we actually came late. So let's catch up once I got the rest of our bellies filled. You okay with that?"

 _Understandable_ ; Claude knew that lunch time had been going for a while, and team CFVY obviously still needed some nourishment if they wanted to make it through the second-half of school period. "Sure, no problem. I'll probably gonna have to attend some of your classes later. I'll see you kids around." He replied with a coy smile.

Coco nodded and patted Claude's arm before she turned around; while sending a wink at Claude. The rest of team CFVY gave their goodbyes, with Velvet finally smiling widely, seemingly glad that the affair had been settled without incident.

Claude then turned to address the first-years, not without checking on the clock first. "Okay, you lot! Lunch time is nearly over, so get ready for your next class. Peach doesn't really fond of you kids being late." He said with clapped hands, adjourning the meeting.

* * *

Back in his room, Claude put down his pen on his desk. It was night, and he just finished writing down his daily report to be submitted to Ozpin on the next morning. Leaning back on his chair, his mind wandered to reminisce what had happened for the rest of the day after lunch break.

The Science and Dust study with Professor Paestil Peach had gone without much incident. The old lady really knew her stuff, thanks to her year of experience teaching a bunch of students from all years. Her tone of voice, choice of words, even some inside jokes during her lectures; allowed her to keep the students engaged in the lesson. Overall, it was quite a fruitful endeavour.

Still, Claude smiled wryly when he remembered that Peach also aimed several surprise questions at him, which he barely managed to wing them. On the other hand, perhaps the exchange between him and Peach was able to garner some laughs from the first years, alleviating the atmosphere inside the class.

The last class of the day was History with Doctor Oobleck - Claude had to exhale on that; he wondered if he should stop Barty from drinking any more coffee, but then again, he was not sure if the sudden withdrawal would actually kill him or not.

However, caffeine overdose aside, Barty's class also reminded Claude of another issue - Jaune Arc.

Back during Peach's class, Jaune was not even that actively engaged; and looking at him unfocused and fumbling during Barty's lesson only made Claude wondered if his treatment during the combat class was wrong.

Still, didn't he give some pep-talk to encourage him during lunch? Was that not enough?

Then again, not everything could work out as he intended, Claude had to say that Jaune was indeed struggling with his academics, not to mention that he was still practically the worst when it came to combat.

The thought of Jaune's faked transcript came to his mind - for some obvious reason, that had to be related with the boy's current dilemma.

Claude decided to put the thoughts for another day, as he eyed the scroll on the edge of his desk and reached his hand towards it. However, through the window that he opened for some fresh air, he suddenly heard voices coming from the rooftop just above him.

oXo

"I don't belong here."

"...What are you talking about? Of course, you do!"

Jaune and Pyrrha were standing and talking on the rooftop of dormitory building. The location was pretty up high, and the fall from there would put a person in hospital, aura or not.

It began when Jaune came out from Doctor Oobleck's detention after the boy's blunder and tardiness in class, and noticing Jaune's dejected expression, Pyrrha decided to take him towards the rooftop. The place was secluded enough and the cool air up high was soothing, thus she could approach her partner's issue without interruption; although the trek there took some time, and the sheer height of the place made Jaune thought for a second that she proposed a suicidal method to escape his problems.

At first, things were not too bad as Pyrrha went straight to the point and offer Jaune her assistance to improve himself in combat class. However, things spiralled out of control when Jaune took the offer the wrong way, thinking that the tournament champion was pitying him. Her words of encouragement about him making it to Beacon did not help him feel any better either.

"No, I don't! I mean it." Jaune rebuked Pyrrha's retort angrily. "I… I wasn't really accepted into Beacon." He managed to choke the words out, but his expression was laced with shame.

Pyrrha's face paled slightly at Jaune's words, but most of all, she was confused. "I… I don't understand. What do you mean by that?"

Throwing all caution to the air, Jaune let out all of his frustration into confession. "I lied, okay!? I didn't graduate from any combat school, I didn't take any test, I didn't have any recommendation! I got my hands on some forged transcript, and cheated my way here!"

Pyrrha's breath caught on her throat, as she was taken aback by the revelation. However, she could not bear the anguished expression on her partner's face. "But… why?"

"Because this is what I've always wanted to be!" Jaune turned away, unable to face Pyrrha. "Ever since I was small, I always wanted to be like my father, and my grandfather! Both of them, and our ancestors were all warriors, _heroes_!" He then let out a breath. "But I was just… I was never good enough."

Steeling her heart, Pyrrha pushed on. "Then let me help you!" She insisted as she put her hand on Jaune's shoulder to show support.

However, Jaune immediately turned around and brushed Pyrrha's hand off him. "And I don't want help! I don't want to be the damsel in distress! I want to be the hero!"

If she was hurt by the rebuttal, Pyrrha did not show it as she refused to back down. "Jaune, I-!"

Alas, she was cut off again by Jaune's ranting. "I'm tired of being the lovable idiot, stuck on the tree while his friends were fighting! Don't you understand!?" Tears started to well on his blue eyes. "...If I can't do this on my own, that what good am I?"

Seeing Jaune wiping his eyes caused Pyrrha's heart to break. However, before she could have reached her hand out to him again, Jaune was already speaking.

"Just… leave me alone, okay?"

Hearing the despair in his tone, Pyrrha found herself bowing her head sadly. A second later, she turned around and walked away. "If… that's what you think is best."

Thus, Pyrrha left the rooftop, leaving Jaune contemplating alone. However, his alone time was cut short when he heard another voice.

"Wow, never thought you could be such a dick."

"Who the-?!" Jaune looked up and frantically looked around in his shock. He turned around just in time to see Claude climbing up to the roof. "Sterling? W-what are you doing here?"

"My room is right beneath us, apparently; and you and your partner were not exactly quiet." Claude replied with a raised eyebrow, before he gazed at the door where Pyrrha just left. "...To turn a babe like her away. For shame, Mr. Arc, for shame."

Jaune ignored Claude's words as his eyes widened in fear about something else. "T-then, you heard…?" He could not finish out of nervousness.

"Yep, and a bunch of stuff suddenly made sense to me." Claude quipped sarcastically.

"O-okay, but please!" Panic began to fill Jaune's mind. "Please, y-you can't tell anyone!"

"Save it." Claude simply sighed at the stuttering teen and held his hand up. "Because I've already known anyway."

"Y-you knew?" Jaune blinked. "What do you mean you knew?!"

"I've read your profile before the initiation, Jaune boy." Claude explained as he put one hand on his waist. "And seriously, whoever providing you those papers wasn't really reliable."

Jaune swallowed as he looked away, panicking that he was busted.

"So..." Claude then drew Jaune's attention back to him. "It seems that what I said at the lunch break went straight over your head."

"N-no! I remember, I get it!" Jaune replied, remembering what Claude said about comparing oneself to others. "And I at the bottom of that list, see? I-I can become stronger-!"

"Okay, _stop_." Despite his calm tone, the two words that came from Claude's lips were able to shut Jaune up. Claude sighed before he walked around before he started to close in towards the boy. "...Tell me, Mr. Arc. Give me one good reason why I shouldn't rat you out to Professor Goodwitch by the next morning."

"I…" His heart was caught on his throat; Jaune tried to find something to say, anything, but he could not. _Sterling_ was a teacher in training, but he still had the right, even an obligation to report to his superior. Seeing the man closing in, Jaune took a step back out of instinct.

Jaune kept trying to think of an answer, but every time he saw Claude walking towards him with sedate pace, his legs kept moving back. It did not take long until Jaune found himself at the edge of the rooftop, unable to take another step back lest he would fall.

When Jaune looked up again, Claude was standing within arm's reach in front of him. His posture was stern, calm, unflinching, and his silver eyes were boring into his blue ones.

"...Well? I'm waiting." The trainee teacher simply said with raised eyebrows.

"I…" Jaune looked down, before he closed his eyes and sighed. "I… I don't know." However, he looked up at Claude again with his blue eyes refusing to give up. "But please, just give me a chance, one chance! I-I can't just leave Beacon like this! I'll do anything!"

"Anything, huh?" Claude's eyes gained an intrigued glint in them, before he tapped his chin with a finger. "Hm...I guess I have an idea."

When Jaune thought that there was a hope for him, suddenly he found Claude's hand pressed onto his chest, shoving him backwards.

"...Huh?"

Time slowed down that moment, and as Jaune saw as he fell back, was a pair of cold silver eyes.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! Constructive reviews will be appreciated. Ahsoei, over and out.**


	12. Jaunedice (II)

**RWBY: The Redeemer**

* * *

 **Beta-read by Starlight's Poet**

 **Chapter 11: Jaunedice (II)**

It was another day at Beacon Academy, and the members of team JNPR became increasingly worried for their team leader. They did not know when Jaune returned that night, and when they woke up in the morning, Jaune was clearly showing that he did not get enough sleep.

Ren and Nora tried to approach him, asking him what was wrong, offering their help and support if necessary, but Jaune waved it off with a strained smile. Pyrrha knew something else was going on, and Jaune needed all help that he could get, but his rebuttal from that night prevented her from doing so.

She knew that choosing to have faith in her leader was not the right move, but what else could she do? She never believed herself as the social type, back in Mistral, her achievements made her peers perceiving her as some kind of idol, untouchable goddess, someone that was way out of their league.

Thanks to that circumstances, now Pyrrha could not decide the best course of action. A part of her believed that Jaune would eventually come to ask her help, which she would give without a second thought; but the other part told her that this could not go on. However, mulling over the two options ended up with her unable to pick her next course of action. She could do nothing but to watch her leader worriedly.

It was supposed to be a good thing to have Jaune investing himself a lot in class. He did not fall asleep during Peach, Oobleck, even Port's boring lectures. She could see that his blue eyes were focused, as his hands tried their damnest to note down all the important points, as much as he could follow.

However, Pyrrha and the others of JNPR began to worry when Jaune, much to their surprise, actually volunteered first in the combat class. What's more, he actually chose Sterling to be his opponent.

Something odd occurred, however. While the interim teacher did not want to accept, there was something different in the way Sterling treated the match. Jaune was able to put on a proper stance, remembering the teaching given to him on the previous class. On the other hand, Sterling did not seem to take the fight seriously.

Still, Jaune was outmatched; not only that Sterling did not take him seriously, he was merciless, not allowing Jaune to regain his breath or posture, pressuring him until Jaune was defeated via aura loss, or Glynda called the match when she deemed Jaune could not even stand anymore. Then, Sterling would simply sighed and looked at Jaune with utter disappointment in his eyes before he simply walked away, not after giving a little to none pointers of how Jaune could improve.

After the class, Pyrrha, Ren and Nora approached Jaune again, at least just to see if he was okay - Sterling did quite a number on him; without pushing any issue. Again, Jaune simply waved their concern off with a fake smile before running off.

Ren and Nora glanced at Pyrrha, who knew what they were asking. However, she herself had no idea as well.

 _What happened that night?_

* * *

Jaune sighed as he twisted the water valve closed, standing before the mirror in the men's restroom. His body was hunched over with his hands supporting him over a sink.

 _What an_ absolute _mess_.

Looking back, Jaune thought things should not have spiralled out of control like what he was dealing with. Sure, he cheated his way to Beacon, he was definitely unprepared, but he pulled it off, soon what was supposed to be a lie would turn into the truth when he became a successful huntsman.

Then Sterling Cole happened.

It was not like Jaune blamed the guy. In fact, perhaps Jaune had it coming - _the karma is doing its job by biting his ass for lying_. After all, he could also consider himself fortunate, as his mind reeled back to what happened when Sterling confronted him.

oXo

 _Jaune stared in horror at Claude's cold eyes as his body was about to fall. "Huh-?! W-WAIT!"_

 _When Jaune closed his eyes, resigned and ready to experience the agony of falling down from the rooftop, his eyes were opened again and he found Sterling had caught him by his necktie, suspending his body in the process._

 _Jaune was literally hanging with his feet planted at the edge of the rooftop, his frame was still hovering mid-air, thanks to Sterling catching him in the last second. However, he was not out of danger yet, as the man did not make any attempt to pull him up._

 _Eyes still cold, Jaune could only swallow a lump, wondering what was going to happen next._

" _Sheesh…" Claude sighed before he lowered Jaune's body slightly, making the boy gasped in fear and clutched his hands like a lifeline. Peering down at the depth below Jaune's quivering frame, Claude then nodded before addressing the teen. "Before you got any ideas, I just want to check if the fall would actually kill you or not."_

 _Jaune was utterly confused, but he was still scared, not daring to look back down; his frightened eyes were still trained at Sterling's indifferent expression._

" _...And the good news is, you'll live."_

 _Jaune was supposed to feel relief, but he could not, since Sterling still had yet to pull him back._

" _Hm… Your face is asking why am I not pulling you yet, or if there's a bad news." Claude raised an intrigued eyebrow, his grip on Jaune's necktie remained firm. "In reverse order, there's no bad news, and in fact, I'm saving you from the humiliation."_

 _Jaune's confused expression prompted him to elaborate._

" _I mean, with the amount of aura you have with you, and the height from here; the fall would definitely break your bones, maybe leaving you crippled if you're not lucky."_

 _Jaune's eyes widened in horror._

" _...And speaking of which, I was surprised that you didn't die after being launched in initiation. I guess Nikos saved your ass and unlocked your aura?"_

 _Jaune's silence - out of fear and panic, was enough answer for Claude's hunch._

" _Nevermind that. Going back to topic, it's better to leave Beacon with premise of heavy injuries, than getting expelled because they find you cheating, right?"_

 _Jaune's breath hitched as his eyes stared at Sterling's cold smirk. "No, no! Please, you can't do this!" He pleaded while desperately trying to get a good grip on Sterling's hand._

" _Why the hell not? I don't think there's any better alternative here."_

" _I-I know that I messed up, b-but I can't just leave like this! I can't go back and face my family, not after I've gone this far!"_

" _Um, I don't think you've even gone anywhere that far yet, and now that you mentioned it; did your family know about this?"_

 _In response, Jaune averted his gaze in shame. "...No, they don't. They know that I left to become a huntsman, but they don't know that I cheated."_

" _Well, that's even more reason for you to pull back before you got in too deep." Claude retorted. "Go home to your family, and say, 'I'm home', 'things didn't go well', apologize, then start anew." His tone softened slightly. "In fact, I can write a report that you were training here, or maybe fighting a burglar, probably some flying Grimm, but you fell off in the heat of the battle. You can depart from Beacon with everyone seeing you as a_ hero _."_

 _Jaune felt his heart just dropped to his stomach, as his face could not go any paler, when Sterling said the last word._

" _Think about it." Claude brandished his free hand as if he came up with some kind of grand tale. "A young, aspiring huntsman in training, defended Beacon Academy from foreign, invading force; almost at the cost of his own life….. That kind of story will definitely gain sympathy from everyone. You can leave Beacon on a good note, and nobody will ever need to deal with your misconduct bullshit; it's a win-win."_

" _No…. No, no, no!" Jaune's heart was beating against his ribcage like crazy by that point. "No, please! I'm begging you, don't! I-I don't want to become that kind of hero!"_

" _Come on, man. What else can we do?" Claude replied with a scoff. "I don't know about you or everyone else; but as far as I know, the only way someone can become a hero without anybody's help is through martyrdom; y'know, by doing some self-sacrificing act, that kind of thing you sometimes find in tragic story books."_

 _Jaune's already breaking composure still kept diminishing as tears began to flow from his face. He had no idea what to say in return, the words of rebuttal that he threw at Pyrrha came back to his mind with vengeance._

 _While watching Jaune breaking down, Claude suddenly sniffed at a stench in the air, he followed the smell and saw the growing stain on Jaune's pants, a few drops falling down._

" _Oh, for god's sake…" Claude groaned at the display. "...Seriously?!" Then again, perhaps he should have seen it coming._

" _I…" Jaune choked out, his body was still trembling at the edge of the roof. "...I just want to prove my parents and everyone back at Ansel… that I can become someone..."_

 _Claude simply listened, his silence prompted Jaune to continue. "Everyone - my parents, my sisters, kept believing that I'm weak… When I told them that I'm going to Beacon, my parents said that I can come home whenever I'd like… They don't have any faith in me! They expected me to fail!" The boy cried out. "Beacon is my only shot to become someone my parents can be proud of, what I can be proud of!"_

" _...You're already becoming a liar and cheater here." Claude retorted._

" _What choice do I have?!" Jaune roared back. "There's no combat school at Ansel, my father is too busy with work to train me, my mother and sisters refused to train me, because they thought I couldn't take it! What was I supposed to do?!"_

 _Claude simply stared as Jaune somehow managed to regain his little composure, albeit barely. The waterworks also seemed to pipe down._

" _I messed up, I know. I had no idea what I have signed myself up for, I know." Jaune looked down for a second before he met Sterling's gaze with his own. Claude blinked when Jaune unexpectedly let go of his hand, letting his life be held by a single necktie in his grasp; the boy's gaze was resigned and resolute at the same time. "...But at least that's a decision that I came up by my own without my family's influence. I know that cheating my way here is wrong, but that's something I'll live the rest of my life with."_

 _Claude stared at Jaune and maintained their position for a minute, before he chose to speak. "...End of this month."_

" _...What?" Jaune blinked, before he was suddenly pulled back and thrown towards the middle of the rooftop. He rolled and settled on his fours, coughing and taking huge breaths of relief as he turned his attention back to Sterling._

" _You have until the end of this month." Claude clarified. "Which means… ten days starting tomorrow, to convince me that you can stay in Beacon."_

 _When Jaune managed to return on his feet, he found Sterling pointed his finger at him. "Should you fail…" his silver eyes were honing at him. "...Not only you will be expelled, report of your misconduct will be filed into the system, and will be shared to other huntsmen academy across Remnant - Haven, Atlas and Shade, and your name will be in the blacklist; which means that you will never be allowed to enrol any of them, let alone becoming an official huntsman. Am I clear?"_

 _Jaune could feel the pressure on his person, but he knew the consequences of what he pulled of were given. In return, he nodded while barely keeping his posture straight. "...Yes, sir."_

 _Claude nodded and hummed before he turned around his heel and walked away, leaving Jaune alone behind._

" _Have a good night and good luck, Mr. Arc."_

oXo

Jaune sighed once again at the memory. He was glad that his team was fast-asleep by the time he got back to the room, otherwise they would ask him a lot of unwanted questions.

End of this month - it was his deadline to show Sterling that he had what it takes to become a huntsman, or at least to learn to be one. He would not fail, not at this point.

Pyrrha's face flashed on his mind, her offer to help him still echoed in his soul. However, Jaune closed his eyes and banished the thought. The girl definitely hated him now, she went out of her way to help him, and he just spat her - _figuratively_ \- in the face because of his stupid pride doing the talking; he could not bring himself to face her, he could not face the rest of his team as well.

He brought all of this mess upon himself, he had nobody to blame but himself. It was his responsibility to see this through by himself.

With another deep breath, Jaune slammed his palms to his cheeks for a couple of times, and gave one more look at his determined face in the mirror, before walking out of the restroom.

After Jaune had left, one of the stalls was opened, followed with the sound of toilet flushing as Claude walked out while fixing the buckle on his pants; his silver eyes were staring at the direction where Jaune just left. A few seconds later, he sighed before he proceeded to wash his hands.

* * *

It was a free period for team RWBY as Weiss and Ruby were having another study session in their room. Since Ruby had been enrolled into Beacon two years early, Weiss had volunteered to help Ruby to cover the rest of subjects that the younger girl was supposed to take during her final year in Signal Academy; which served as a preparatory school before she went to Beacon or other huntsmen academy.

It took over an hour for Ruby to let out a breath as she showed her notes towards Weiss, who then proceeded to look over the former's handiwork with critical eye. The younger girl looked and bit her lips nervously as her partner inspecting her homework.

A few minutes later, Weiss leaned back and let out a breath - the gesture only caused Ruby to hold her breath.

"It's passable. I suppose a well-done is in order." Weiss said with a small, yet satisfied smile.

Ruby let out her breath explosively as she slumped down on the desk. While she could have appreciated more praises, Weiss' overly-formal compliment had spoken volumes of her results. She would just enjoy the moment for the time being.

"Finally, some break and relaxation…" Ruby sighed blissfully, before she stood up and stretched her bodies a few seconds later. "I'm going to grab some snacks before going over to check if Sterling is still in the forgery. Do you want to come?" She turned to her partner.

"While watching a live weapon-crafting might sound interesting, there's actually something that has been bothering me…" Weiss said with contemplating expression. "...It's about our so-called new teacher."

"Sterling…?" Ruby blinked. "...What's wrong with him?"

Weiss, gestured her partner to sit down, thinking that their conversation might take longer than intended. As soon as Ruby took a seat, the heiress spoke again. "Tell me, Ruby. Where did you hear he graduated from, again?"

"I… heard he graduated from Beacon." Ruby replied, wondering where her partner was going with the information.

"And if I'm not mistaken, he graduated not long ago, didn't he?" Weiss asked and received a nod from Ruby. "...This brings my next question. Do you remember the people's opinion about him during lunch on the other day?"

"Um… kind of?" Ruby replied with hesitant tone.

Weiss simply sighed, having been kind of expecting such reply from her team leader. "They didn't recognise him. It's a bit strange for our seniors not to know someone on Mr. Cole's calibre."

Ruby's eyes sparked with remembrance, as questions began to fill her mind. However, a part of her wanted to argue. "But… they probably didn't know about Sterling yet."

"Perhaps, that's what I thought at first. However, don't you find it strange that nobody from the third and fourth years bothered to approach him and vice versa?" Weiss asked again.

Ruby looked down, contemplating Weiss' point. "So… Sterling is lying about something?"

Weiss' silence only made Ruby feeling anxious. _What is Sterling hiding? Why did he even lie to everyone?_ However, when her mind recalled the short moments that she had spent with the man - the encouraging and comforting words he spoke whenever they talked, his broad and unwavering back when he saved her, the warmth of his soft, yet firm hand when he patted her head; she suddenly heard her mother's voice echoing again deep within her.

 _Let's give him a warm, welcome home, okay?_

Ruby closed her eyes tightly, feeling a small headache coming to her. However, she pushed it away as she opened her eyes to met Weiss' own. "...There must be an explanation for this."

"Ruby…" Weiss wanted to retort, but Ruby cut her off.

"No, I don't believe that he wants something bad to happen on Beacon, on _us_." Ruby's eyes were resolute. "Let's go find him." She stood up from her seat, but Weiss interrupted her.

"Whoa, hold it right there!" The heiress said with a stern tone, prompting Ruby to stop on her tracks. The latter simply stared at the former without intention to back down.

Weiss sighed at her partner's stubborn attitude before speaking. "Look…. While I also want to find out the truth, confronting the suspect head-on is definitely not the wisest move. I say we report this to Professor Ozpin himself."

Ruby looked down for a second before she looked up again to nod at Weiss' idea. Both of them then walked towards the door - which they left slightly opened earlier. When they opened it wide, however, they were met with the visage of Glynda Goodwitch; her expression was still stern as ever, but there was a hint of softness in her eyes.

Both students immediately froze and straightened up. "Professor Goodwitch!" Weiss greeted, or rather, greeted in surprise. "Um… What are you doing? Can we help you?"

"At ease, Ms. Rose, Ms. Schnee." Glynda nodded amicably. "I'm just doing a quick patrol around the dorms, since there were cases of students committed some… inappropriate conducts in the past." Her face grimaced for a second before they returned to her earlier calm. "Forgive me, but I happened to overhear your discussion about Mr. Cole earlier."

Ruby and Weiss glanced at each other, thinking that this was their chance. "Um… Yeah, professor…" Ruby rubbed her head, not sure of how to broach the subject. "Is Sterling… you know? Innocent?" She looked hopefully at the deputy.

Glynda simply nodded at the girls, albeit the two noticed a hint of exasperation on her face before vanishing. "As far as I know, the Headmaster personally offered Mr. Cole for a teaching position at Beacon. Following your concerns, however, another background check and investigation of Mr. Cole's allegiance will be conducted as soon as I inform the Headmaster. I can assure you that no harm shall befall on Beacon Academy and its students."

Glynda's statement had a relieving effect on both Weiss and Ruby, as their expression softened in considerable relief.

"Is there anything else you wish to share?" Glynda asked again.

"Should we alert everyone?" Weiss asked this time.

"I believe you should keep this information within your team for the time being. While this matter is serious, there is still a possibility that Mr. Cole has no intention to cause any harm. We will relay you the result of our investigation as soon as we can." The Deputy replied. "...Anything else?"

"That would be all, thank you." Weiss nodded with diplomatic smile.

"Keep up the vigilance and good work, you two. Have a good afternoon." Glynda then walked away with another nod.

Once Goodwitch had vanished from view, Weiss let out a breath. "...Well, that went better than I thought." She turned to see her partner looking downcasted. "Ruby?"

Noticing Weiss' concern, Ruby gave a sheepish smile. "Sorry, it's just…" her smile vanished. "...Sterling didn't do anything bad, right?"

Weiss stared at the younger girl for a few seconds before she sighed softly. "If we exclude his rather uncouth jokes and attitude, then no, Ruby. Not yet, at least."

Ruby's expression went sour. A part of her could not bring herself to distrust the man in question.

"Look, Ruby." Weiss tried to reason. "I know Mr. Cole has shown himself as… an amicable man so far. But we can't ignore this whole situation. If we careless, the lives of other students, our friends, could be in danger. We've done what we can, let's just see how it goes. If Sterling is indeed harmless, then there's nothing to worry about."

Ruby closed her eyes to contemplate on Weiss' words. Her logic dictated that her partner was right. On the other hand, a part of her could not deny that everything that Sterling had said and done to her…. They just did not feel _fake_.Not to mention, when Ruby was in thought, those words echoed within her in her mother's voice. She couldn't just ignore that, no matter how confusing it was.

Opening her eyes, Ruby finally resolved herself. "Let's find Blake and Yang first."

oXo

Glynda just finished sending Ozpin the message about Ruby and Weiss' concern regarding their newest recruit. She paused on her tracks towards the Headmaster's office to massage the incoming migraine away.

She had forgotten, that despite Claude Rose's intelligence, he was still prone on making some obvious blunders. Disguising himself as a recent graduate of Beacon Academy, to interact with students as a teacher? Of course there would be questions from senior years' perspective.

 _It's a perfect cover, he said. It will work out, he said. It's going to be interesting, he said._

To think that she, Glynda Goodwitch, the deputy headmaster of Beacon Academy who had been well-known to uphold the rules, was actually thinking for a way to reinforce Claude's cover. The idea was simply… _appalling_.

 _Rather, as a matter of fact, this nonsense would not have happened if the man just grew a pair and came clean towards his own family._

"This better be worth it, Claude…" grumbling under her breath, Glynda put her glasses back on and resumed her walk towards Ozpin's office.

oXo

Meanwhile, Yang just finished reading her weekly magazine in the library. During the free period, her sister had decided to catch up with her missing studies from Signal Academy with Weiss' tutelage; thus, Yang chose to accompany Blake for some R&R in the library.

To be honest, Yang's idea of R&R was leaning more towards outdoor activity; sparring, exercising, perhaps some ride out to the town on her Bumblebee. However, when Blake told her that there was something important she needed to look into, Yang chose to indulge her, since there was some materials in entertainment section that caught her fancy.

It had been almost one hour since Yang saw Blake disappeared into records section, and she started to feel bored. Closing her automotive magazine and put it back on the shelf, Yang decided to check on her partner. True to her hunch, Blake was sitting with several black thick books before her.

"Hey, Blakey." Yang called out with her signature playful tone. "How's it going? What 'cha reading?"

"Student Year-Book." Blake replied cryptically, giving Yang a quick glance. "They have general records of the past students before us."

"And… What are you looking for?" Yang raised a curious eye-brow.

"Sterling Cole." Blake replied without looking back at Yang.

"Sterling?" This time it got Yang's full attention, before her lips grew into a teasing grin. "What's this? Is this a crush I'm looking at?"

Blake only sighed at the teasing. "No, it's nothing like that, seriously. You did realise how he appeared during the lunch on the other day, right?" Blake sent Yang a longer glance.

It took a few seconds for Yang to take Blake's words in, and her lilac eyes suddenly gained an intrigued gleam.

Blake nodded. "...And here's the thing, I've been looking through the past four years, and there's no record whatsoever about a student named Sterling Cole."

"Maybe he's in the older records?" Yang threw out an idea.

"Possible, but unlikely." Blake replied back. "I mean, how old is he? 21, or 25, maybe? I doubt he's _that_ old."

"Could be the work of Aura." Yang reasoned again. "I mean, my dad is supposed to be in his late 30s, but he still looks young enough to be my big brother." Note that she had refrained herself from saying 'barely'.

Blake could not help but agree on that point. With enough and proper training, one's Aura could be utilised as an anti-aging remedy; Glynda Goodwitch was a good example. There were rumours that her appearance had not changed for the last 10 years.

Still, with what she had found out during her stay at Beacon so far, Blake could not let go of her suspicion of her new resident teacher. There was at least a secret that Sterling Cole - if it was his real name to begin with, was hiding, and Blake Belladonna wanted to know. Call her paranoid, but it's just her nature, considering her past - which she would not disclose to her friends anytime soon.

For anything it's worth, if Blake found that the secret Sterling Cole hiding turned out to be harmless, she would keep it to herself. That was the least she could do in return of snooping around his privacy.

However, before the discussion could have gone longer, Blake and Yang were interrupted by the noise of students causing ruckus outside the library, prompting the librarian to shout. "Keep it down, please!"

Blake and Yang glanced at each other for a second before they chose to find out of what was happening out of curiosity. When the two walked out of the library, they found several students were running past them, even one of them almost ran into Yang; barely manoeuvring his way around to avoid contact.

"Sorry!"

Shrugging off the random student's apology, Yang simply called out. "Hey, what's with the rush?"

"There's a sparring in session. The new teacher is fighting against some third and fourth years, everyone is watching. I gotta go, hey guys! Wait up! " The student then quickly ran off to catch up with his friends.

Blake and Yang watched the students' retreating backs, before they looked at each other and shared a nod before giving a chase.

 _This ought to be interesting._

* * *

When Ruby and Weiss ended up following the crowd towards one of the training arenas, they finally spotted the rest of their members among the spectators.

"Yang, Blake!" Ruby waved as she and her partner ran towards them.

"Ruby!" Yang returned while Blake only glanced and nodded at them.

"What in the world is happening here?" Weiss asked as she looked at the people around her.

"Apparently our new teacher is fighting some seniors." Blake provided, jerking her chin towards the stage.

When the team looked at the scene, they saw Sterling Cole was indeed facing against three male opponents, all of them were clad in green militaristic outfit with a tight-fitting T-shirt that showed their toned physics, cargo pants and combat boots. The first man had a short mohawk hair, the second had a crew-cut blonde, while the third had unkempt brown hair.

When they looked at the spectacle, the girls noticed another thing. "Where are their weapons?" Ruby asked; the girl was a bit disappointed at the lack of her eye-candy.

"It's because this is an unsanctioned match, technically speaking."

Team RWBY turned to see another man with a similar outfit as Sterling's opponents; this one had a white-dyed combed hair and a small, yet noticeable scar on his right cheek.

"Unless for team-training purposes, fights with weapons against other team members require direct supervision from one of the Beacon staff." The senior student elaborated further before he noticed team RWBY's gaze upon him. "Oh, my name is Ares Xanders, by the way. You girls are team…. RWBY, correct?"

"...Yes, that will be us." the girls were slightly caught off guard by the recognition, but Weiss managed to reply diplomatically. "How did you…?"

"It's hard not to remember one of the only two first-year teams in Beacon. My team AERO is fighting down there; a bit too eager to test the new teacher, so they didn't bother to notify the teachers and settled with hand-to-hand." Ares jerked his chin towards the stage.

"And... you didn't want to join the fray?" Yang asked.

Ares simply snorted and chuckled lightly. "As interesting as it sounds, I know when to pick my fights." the man observed at the arena with critical eyes. "I have nothing against the guy personally, but I'd like to see for myself what he's capable of."

Deciding not to question his reasoning, team RWBY simply nodded in acceptance and returned their gaze on the fight. Unknown to them, team JNPR was also watching the fight from the other side of the spectator seats. Jaune, in particular, was watching the match with rapt attention, oblivious to the concerned glances from his teammates.

oXo

Claude was facing off against three members of AERO - from the brief introductions they made upon first meeting, he knew the one with mohawk was called Edmund, the one with crew-cut hair was Roland, and the one with unkempt hair was called Orlock. The trio were charging at him with Edmund and Orlock leading with Roland a bit behind them.

Orlock began by swinging his knuckle at Claude, but the latter simply blocked the incoming punch and retaliated with a kick straight to Orlock's torso, forcing him back. Edmund came a second after, but Claude quickly knocked him back with a punch in the face before Edmund could have done anything. Roland quickly came and threw several kicks and punches, but Claude easily outmatched him and landed a nasty haymaker on Roland's temple, forcing him onto the ground.

Claude then sensed the incoming ambush from Orlock, and quickly countered by sweeping his leg, knocking Orlock off his feet. He then rolled back to angle his feet and sent them to kick at the looming Roland, knocking him back. He then turned to Edmund, who was throwing his fist at him. Claude manoeuvred through the attack and rolled over Edmund's back, blindsided him and knocked him away with an uppercut. Roland was about to attack again but Claude easily fend him off with a round-house kick at his head. He then jerked his body slightly to avoid a surprise swing from Orlock, and countered him with another uppercut.

Soon, the flow of the battle led to Edmund, Roland and Orlock ganging up on Claude, who easily kept up with whatever attacks they threw at him. However, Claude saw that there was no actual teamwork between his three opponents, as Edmund and Orlock made a mistake by accidentally attacking one another while chasing after Claude. While the two were still disoriented and shocked at their blunders, Claude seized the chance to perform a double-attack - he jumped to deliver a punch at Edmund's face and kick at Orlock behind him simultaneously.

Roland quickly charged in panic, and Claude simply outpaced him by launching a flying knee strike at his jaw, knocking him to the ground again.

oXo

Back to the stands - everyone was clearly impressed at the spectacle. "Wow. Okay, that's impressive." Ares admitted as he nodded in calculative manner.

Team RWBY and JNPR were not less impressed; after all, they had seen with their own eyes at their teacher's expertise in combat.

"You know… I got a feeling that Mr. Cole might be more adept in hand-to-hand than he is with weapons." Ren commented.

"It's hard to say." Pyrrha gave her own two-cents. "His mastery over his weapon is nothing to scoff at either."

On the other hand, Jaune simply took a deep breath, rubbing the lower-half of his face nervously. _"...I'm supposed to convince someone that strong?"_

oXo

Back to the stage - Roland groaned at the pain while massaging his throbbing jaw. When Claude stepped back to give his opponents some space. A few seconds later, the three returned to their feet, no doubt with the help of their aura mitigating the damages inflicted upon them.

Claude nodded in satisfaction - despite the poor teamwork, his opponents were definitely not pushovers, the testament of their years of experience in Beacon Academy. In addition, as the trio held up their fists into fighting stances, their expressions remained collected; perhaps there were hints of frustration, but they were still able to exchange some silent communications between each other, judging from the glances and the nods shared.

Claude smirked at his opponents; they were veterans, probably they had been born from mundane backgrounds, but disciplines had been ingrained into their bones as soon as they entered Beacon Academy. Fair assumption, considering Glynda Goodwitch was still running as an active teacher before her promotion into Ozpin's secretary.

Another round began; this time, Claude found that the trio seemingly came up with a plan, as Roland charged first with a roundhouse kick. He simply jerked his body back to avoid the swing, and parried more kicks and punches that Roland threw at him. However, the exchange ended when Roland's left hand caught Claude's right in his grasp, as well as Claude's counter-punch with his right, ending the exchange in a dead-lock.

Claude's eyes widened slightly when he noticed Edmund and Orlock made their moves. _So that's their plan_ ; ambush him from the sides while his movement had been limited. _Not bad, but not good enough._

Seeing the incoming duo, Claude simply smirked as he wrenched his right hand off Roland's left and threw a quick jab at the latter's face to disorient him; allowing him to wrench his right hand off Roland's and blocked the incoming attacks. He then proceeded to twist his interlocking hand and Roland's around to catch Edmund's next attack. He then manoeuvred his hand around again to tangled his, Roland and Edmund's hands together, keeping them in place, before he proceeded to kick Orlock away.

Claude then proceeded to throw a few right punches at the immobile Edmund's face and rib, before Roland intercepted and managed to break off the deadlock, freeing both him and Edmund away from Claude. Roland and Edmund immediately attacked at Claude simultaneously, but the new teacher was simply too fast for them.

Claude ended the heated exchange by landing a solid straight at Edmund's face forcing him to stagger back, and pulled Roland forcefully over him before Claude jumped and landed a double kick on Roland's back and the incoming Orlock's torso - launching the two away.

Edmund quickly engaged Claude again, and when the former caught the latter's arm to perform an overhead throw, Claude simply hooked his leg around Edmund's to stop the momentum. Claude pressed himself closer against Edmund and deliver a headbutt to the face. Disoriented, Edmund could not avoid Claude's arms wrapping around his torso as the latter performed a perfect supplex upon him.

The spectators cringed as Edmund's head was slammed on the ground, as well as impressed at Claude's flexibility.

Claude quickly stood back up to intercept Roland - catching an incoming punch and retaliating by a solid chop on Roland's chest. He then turned to intercept Orlock - catching another punch and used the offending limb as a leverage so Claude could roll over Orlock's back and delivered a drop kick at Roland, launching him away until he hit the wall painfully.

It was now one-on-one between Claude and Orlock; the latter threw several punches, hooks and swings which the former easily dodged. Eventually, Claude managed to sneak past Orlock's guard and landed a solid roundhouse kick on Orlock's torso, launching him away to hit the wall at the other end of the stage.

Claude let out a soft breath, seeing that none of the opponents would get up anytime soon. Not to mention, Glynda Goodwitch had also come to the stage, silently ending the match. Looking at the defeated students' bodies on the ground, the deputy sighed as she fixed her glasses. "Mr. Cole, I hope you have some explanation for what basically an unsanctioned match during a free period."

Claude only gave a sheepish grin in return. "As a matter of fact, I do." He then gestured at his downed opponents. "But before you drag me away, can I deal with this for a bit?"

Glynda stared at the younger man for a second before she nodded. "Very well, but please come to the headmaster's office immediately afterwards." She finished with lower tone. "...We need to talk."

Noticing the urgent tone in Glynda's voice, Claude nodded wordlessly and proceeded to help the students up. The team leader, Ares, had also come down to the stage to tend to his team. All in all, the trio of Edmund, Roland and Orlock were vexed, but did not hold a grudge upon losing, at least in the long run.

When Claude looked up at the dispersing spectators, however, he lightly smirked when he noticed that Jaune was eyeing him warily as he left with his team. On the other hand, team RWBY was surprisingly also giving him the same wary looks. It was different kind of looks Jaune had given; particularly, Ruby's eyes seemed to be…. distrusting?

He slightly narrowed his eyes questioningly - _what's with them?_

* * *

The sun had gone lower; in the middle of desert far away from Vale, Qrow Branwen was looking for a place to stay the night.

"I really hate working around Vacuo…" Qrow grumbled as he trudged on. However, as much as he loathed his circumstances, the nature and objective of his current mission had compelled him to take an airship from Vale to Vacuo, then travelled on foot outside of Vacuo's borders to investigate some anomalies reported in Ozpin's general meeting with the other headmasters.

"I can't believe I volunteered for this crap…" Qrow cursed his luck after he had stumbled upon another false alarm. Now, he needed to find somewhere where he could be safe from cold weather, grimm, or some nomadic bandits, without even his Semblance capable of making it worse. It would take another day to reach the nearest settlement and he would rather rest when it was dark.

Fortunately (for once in forever) for him, Qrow's eyes landed on a small building that miraculously stood in a middle of desert. Upon closing in, Qrow noticed the outline of the building - a simple wooden cabin built to accommodate travellers on land.

Years of experience prompted Qrow to do a quick look-around, making sure that the place was habitable, and so far, there was nothing wrong on the outside. He then took a step inside the house, taking in the interior. Spacious, since there were no furnitures around, just a single door, a few windows, and a small fireplace with a chimney. Qrow's eyes drifted down, and he noticed an worn-out rug covering the floor. He then decided to walk around, taking a more careful look inside the house. He scoffed when he found no firewood inside the fireplace, but he found the rest of the interior to be fine - dusty, worn, but did not hint the building would collapse on him anytime soon.

When he walked on the rug, however, Qrow noticed something - a creaking sound from the floor beneath the old fabric. Crouching down, he then ran his palm around the rug, even giving a few taps for a good measure. He grab the rug and took it off the floor, and just as he suspected, there was a trapdoor.

Most likely to provide the travellers a place to hide from the Creatures of Grimm; grasping the hilt of his Harbringer, Qrow carefully grab on the trapdoor handle and pulled it open - it was not locked, leaving the door slammed the floor with a loud thud. He then leapt back, preparing himself for anything that might jumped out from the dark underground.

"...Hello?" testing his already poor luck even further, Qrow waited for another few seconds until he concluded that there was nothing down there, at least nothing _alive_. Curiosity got the better of him, however, when Qrow took out his scroll and activated the torch light function, before he ventured through the dark passage.

Much to his surprise, however, upon leaving the staircase, Qrow found that the underground room might be bigger than the cabin above him, albeit by small margin. Using the flashlight to illuminate his field of vision, Qrow made out a couple of wooden shelves, a table, and what appeared to be a Dust generator.

Qrow inspected the small machine at the corner of the room, and to his relief, there was some Lightning Dust in the chamber, enough to power whatever electronics here for another hour.

Turning on the generator, Qrow then found the entire room was illuminated by a small lamp above the table. He took a better look around, and he found a space with an empty wall near the table. He looked closer, and found some tape and pin marks adorning the wall. Adding the position of the shelves, it was possible that Qrow was not inside an ordinary bunker; people had used the underground room for something, like a meeting, archives or something else similar.

Giving another look around the room, Qrow then noticed something else at the corner of his sight - an edge of a piece of paper beneath one of the shelves. He then crouched down and carefully pulled the paper out of the tiny gaps between the shelf and the floor. Judging from the paper's size and the material he felt on his skin, Qrow deduced it was some kind of photograph. _Did someone leave it on accident_?

When Qrow flipped back the paper to have a look at the picture. It had started to decolourize due to old age, but it was still enough to give Qrow a clear image on the paper. And when Qrow's brain had processed what his eyes saw, he _froze_. His eyes widened for a second before narrowing in a mixture of anguish and fury.

 _Forget about resting the night_ \- he had to return to Vacuo, go back to Vale, and inform Ozpin about his findings. He took a picture of the photograph with his scroll, typed a quick message, and sent it to the headmaster's scroll immediately. He also put the original photograph in his pocket as additional evidence. His current location had a weak reception, so whatever he had transmitted from his scroll would take some time to reach Ozpin; more reason for Qrow to return to Vacuo immediately, where the reception was stronger.

When he stepped out of the cabin, Qrow suddenly remembered another thing - there was one more person who deserved to know about what he had found, perhaps even more than Ozpin.

He then whipped out his scroll again.

* * *

 **So yeah, as you have seen, this Jaunedice won't just approach the issue of Jaune's enrolment, but Claude's situation as well. Constructive reviews will be highly appreciated. Ahsoei, over and out.**


	13. Jaunedice (III)

**RWBY: The Redeemer**

* * *

 **Rats, kissanime had been blocked by Federal Court in the country I'm staying at, it makes me harder to update my watchlist. Moving on to some reviews.**

 **crawforddarius7: Appreciate the proposal, but I'm afraid Statesman won't make any debut in the story until much later part of the story... Assuming I have enough time to write another one.**

 **ZxZ: Thanks for the heads-up. But next time, please do it in my One-Punch DxD section instead of this one.**

* * *

 **Beta-read by Starlight's Poet**

 **Chapter 12: Jaunedice (III)**

It had been sometime since Claude had arrived at Ozpin's office on the highest floor of Beacon tower - the room was illuminated by the twilight sun. However, suffice to say that the atmosphere was not really bright.

"So… that leaked out." Claude sighed on his seat, resting his chin on top of his propped hands.

"Yes, and I told you that your cover story required some more works." Glynda retorted, standing next to Ozpin's desk. The headmaster himself only took a sip from his mug, watching the exchange with small amusement.

"To be fair, I already blurted out that I was from Beacon when I met those two girls for the first time." Claude retorted back. "...So I gotta work with what I have."

"Still, in any case…" Ozpin interjected to go to the heart of the matter. "...The girls had already raised their suspicions, and it's only a matter of time until they find out. While I do understand your reason for not telling Ms. Rose and Ms. Xiao Long the truth initially, I still advise you to come clean now; it's not too late yet."

Claude groaned softly as he leaned back and ran his hand on his face. "I know… I know I messed up… But it's not like I can just walk up to them and say, 'Hey, girls. I'm your missing uncle' or something like that, can I?"

"We are not asking you to do anything that drastic, Mr. Rose." Ozpin retorted calmly while holding back an urge to sigh. "In fact, we can just call Ms. Rose and Ms. Xiao Long here, and you can slowly break it down to them. Both of us will be here to mediate the talk in case things go sour." Glynda glanced at Ozpin with a raised eyebrow at the headmaster's proposal, but did not argue.

Claude eyed the two teachers before him - there was a hint of reluctance in their respective eyes, but otherwise they were genuinely willing to help him getting through the whole fiasco.

"...Are you sure?" Claude asked with hopeful expression.

"Yes." Ozpin nodded with a firm tone, his expression became more genuine. "We both will be here to provide you support."

"Real, really?"

"...Yes, Mr. Rose."

"Real, really, _really_?"

When Claude asked for the third time, Ozpin and Glynda responded with unamused silence, causing him to clear his throat in embarrassment. "R-right, sorry. Okay, call them over, then." He finished with a deep breath to prepare himself.

Ozpin's lips twitched into a small smile as he relaxed on his seat, while Glynda gave a silent exhale as she began typing a calling message on her tablet.

However, Ozpin's scroll suddenly buzzed, audible enough to be heard by both Claude and Glynda, whom paused her typing for a second, to see that the headmaster's scroll showing a message from one Qrow Branwen; which was followed by a ringtone of Claude's scroll a few seconds later.

Claude absent-mindedly opened his device, wondering what Qrow was sending him. When he looked at the content of the message, however, his posture went rigid on her seat; his silver eyes went wide and his brows slowly furrowed in mortification.

"...Glynda, call it off."

Glynda blinked at the younger man when her finger was a second away from pushing the send button. "...I beg your pardon?"

"Call it off - don't bring those girls here." Claude growled as he turned to her - his expression was hardened considerably, compared with his earlier lazy and tired one.

Glynda narrowed her eyes slightly in confusion at the urgency in Claude's tone, wondering what was he getting at. She glanced to Ozpin, who had also opened the message sent by Qrow, and his expression also shifted. The headmaster gave a small nod to Glynda, convincing her to postpone her summoning. Ozpin then proceeded to show his scroll to Glynda to explain what was going on, and upon looking, Glynda's eyes widened, followed with a small gasp.

"This is… Could this be…?" Glynda looked between Ozpin and Claude - who was still glaring at his scroll. His hands were trembling, and it might be only a second away before he crushed the device in his grasp.

The atmosphere became a lot heavier as Glynda and Ozpin understood how dire the situation on their hands. "...Claude." Ozpin simply called out his name, while fixing a firm look; silently telling him to calm down.

A minute later, Claude took a deep breath - his posture relaxed a bit, but the frown remained on his face. Another seconds of silence later, Ozpin decided to speak. "Are you sure you want to keep this up?"

Claude simply glanced at the headmaster. "...If what I suspect about Qrow's findings here is true, then I can't reveal myself without putting Ruby in danger."

"But what we just received doesn't necessarily confirm your fears." Ozpin calmly argued. "You are jumping into conclusions here, Mr. Rose."

"A necessary precaution." Claude glared at the headmaster. "I'm not going to take any risk about this, not on _her_ life."

The tension began to form in the room as Claude and Ozpin were regarding each other with critical eyes without making any move.

"...Then what do you propose?" A minute later, Glynda decided to intervene to defuse the escalating tension. "I have already told Ms. Rose and Ms. Schnee that an investigation will be underway. They probably will expect some results by tomorrow."

Glynda's voice brought back the Goliath in the room before Qrow's message interfered; where revealing the truth to his niece was no longer the best option. Claude's hand then slowly ran through his locks, before resting on top of his face so he could groan into it.

It took another few minutes until another idea was formed in his mind. Whipping out his scroll, Claude typed a contact ID to make a call. A few seconds later, Claude spoke to the device. "Peter, are you free? Yes, something came up; can you come over to Ozpin's office later? I… might need a favour. Bring Barty along if possible…. Thanks, I'll see you later."

The call went off, Claude then straightened up on his seat to find Ozpin and Glynda looking at him expectantly. Giving another deep sigh, Claude hunched over slightly and met Ozpin's and Glynda's eyes with his own. "Okay, here's the plan. But first, I want to confirm a few things."

Ozpin raised his eyebrows when Claude's silver eyes met his brown orbs.

* * *

Another morning came, and Pyrrha woke up early as usual. She stretched her limbs out on bed to get the kinks out of her joints. The sleep did not come as peaceful as she would like; the problems regarding her partner and team leader kept plaguing her thoughts for the past several days. After all, before she went to bed last night, she looked for Jaune - who had yet to return, and found him training and exercising alone at the outskirts of Beacon Academy.

She wanted to approach him, giving him a hand. However, her memory of his rebuttal from the other night prevented her to do so. She had already made him upset enough by poking her nose to where it didn't belong, she was afraid that if she were to push on and approach him again, Jaune would push her away even harder. The thought of Jaune ended up hating her and vanishing from her life… it terrified her.

Sighing to herself, she popped out the last kink around her shoulders, and turned around to check upon Jaune's bed… which she found to be vacant. Her eyes widened in alarm - where is he? Had he woken up earlier than her? Had Jaune actually not returned yet since last night?

Fortunately, before she could have gone into a panic fit and woke up Ren and Nora; a soft knock from the door snapped her out from her stupor. Staring at the door for a couple of seconds, Pyrrha took a deep breath and got up to answer the door, bracing herself for whoever waiting outside. Hopefully, it would be her partner standing beyond the door.

When she opened the door, the first thing she recognised was a masculine face with a pair of silver eyes. The second thing her brain took in was a body that was being hefted by the said guest's shoulder like a potato sack. "Mr. Cole? Can I help…-?" Her green eyes then widened when she recognised a mop of blonde hair. "Jaune!"

Sterling Cole was standing in front of JNPR's dorm room with Jaune hanging on his shoulder. His expression was stoic, border-lined to unamused, not jovial like the other day he talked with them and RWBY from the last time. While her voice was laced with relief and joy, the volume was still enough to startle Ren and Nora awake - the latter was spluttering something about her pancakes suddenly vanished from her arms.

"...I believe this is one of yours, kids." Claude simply said as he carefully deposited Jaune to Ren - who quickly came over to the door, and Pyrrha's care. The blonde's clothes beneath the combat gear was drenched, and his skin was sticky from dried sweat, as well as covered in soot and grime.

"Uugh… What's going on?" Nora asked as she drowsily joined the conversation, before her eyes finally recognised what was before her. "...Is that our fearless leader?"

"I found him sleeping outside. He's lucky he's still within Beacon's borders, otherwise he might have become a grimm food by now." Claude explained, ignoring Nora's nickname for Jaune - as amusing as it sounded. "And… he's also lucky that this is still weekend, otherwise he gotta miss classes."

Ren then nodded to Pyrrha, giving her cues as they carefully brought the still knocked out Jaune to his bed. Seeing that everything seemed to be under control, Claude then turned to leave. "Well, have a good morning, kiddos."

"Wait!" However, Claude was suddenly stopped by Pyrrha's voice.

The girl looked between her teammates, the clock, and her partner before she turned back to Claude. "Mr. Cole… Do you… know what's happening with Jaune, by any chance?"

Claude eyed the girl before her, then his eyes darted at Nora and Ren too - all three of them were clearly worried for their leader. He then glanced at Jaune's sleeping form when he found him, it was not difficult for him to conclude that the boy had been training by himself all night long.

Eventually, Claude could only sigh. "...I'm afraid you have to talk with your leader for answers."

When Pyrrha looked down without pressing the issue, Claude then turned around to leave team JNPR to their own devices.

oXo

When Jaune opened his eyes, he was met with the sight of a familiar ceiling above him. Groaning lightly from the sense of vertigo, he sat up and noticed that he was back in his dorm room. _Strange, pretty sure I was outside last night…_

"Good morning…. Although it's already past 10 o'clock."

Jaune turned to find Ren holding a glass of water. "Mr. Cole brought you back here this morning."

Jaune then sighed in acknowledgement of what happened. Feeling his throat parched, he then accepted the water that Ren offered to him. After downing its contents, Jaune then took a quick look around. "Where are Pyrrha and Nora?"

"Reviewing and preparing notes for the next class on Monday; Nora called it a girl-time." Ren replied with a soft, tiny smile while taking the empty glass and put it away.

"I see…" Jaune let out a weak chuckle at Nora's antics. Then, Jaune found Ren sitting on the foot of his bed. The two fell into an awkward silence for a few minutes.

With a deep breath, Ren began speaking. "...Jaune." His calm voice got the blonde's attention. "I'll go to the point, your behaviour as of late has been getting out of hand."

Jaune averted his gaze in shame at Ren's remark. "...I'm sorry."

Ren stared at his leader's expression for a few seconds before sighing. Truth to be told, Pyrrha was reluctant to talk with Jaune, saying that she had no right to - as strange as it sounded. Hence, Ren volunteered to approach the issue; perhaps Jaune would be more comfortable to open up to a fellow man. "I'm not going to pry if you don't want me to." Ren then stood up so he could walked closer and put a hand on Jaune's shoulder. "...But we want you to know that all of us, especially Pyrrha, are worried; and we are willing to help. You are our leader, but first and foremost… You are our friend." Ren gave a soft squeeze before letting go. "...And it's never wrong to ask help from your friends. Everybody does it at some point in life."

Ren then finally left the room, giving Jaune some time to think alone. The blonde ran his hair through his blonde locks, feeling the hair rather oily. _Some team leader I am_ \- Ren's words did lift up some of his spirit, but the guilt that was plaguing him still remained. At this rate, his days in Beacon were as good as numbered. He wanted to stay at Beacon, he wanted to stay with his friends and become a huntsman, but with how he was, and how he acted, did he still deserve to get help?

Jaune would have to tell his friends the truth about his enrolment - Pyrrha did not seem angry, but he had already pushed her away, the only person that could actually help. Ren and Nora…. So far, he found them agreeable, but how much did he know them? Ren could probably listen, considering how calm he was, but Nora? He would not say she was a bad girl, but Nora was clearly a type of person who wore her heart on her sleeve. In the end, the question that plagued his mind was; _could I really face them?_

Taking a deep breath, Jaune got up from his bed. Things seemed hopeless, but he knew better than just sulked around and did nothing. For now, he needed a shower.

* * *

"That…. Should do for now." Pyrrha said as she closed down the book before her. Next to her, Nora slumped down with a loud groan.

"Uuughh…. It's finally over!" She stretched, almost jumped from her seat, which received a loud hush from a nearby librarian.

Giggling at her teammate, Pyrrha patted Nora's shoulder. "Good work, Nora. Would you like to go to cafeteria? I believe they have some pancakes."

Nora's eyes perked up at the name of her favourite treats, but she chose to rest her head on the table. "Mm… No, I'll wait for Ren. His pancakes are a lot better…." Nora then drifted to sleep.

Pyrrha gave a good-natured sigh at Nora's antics - at least she was not causing a racket. Leaving Nora to be found by Ren later, Pyrrha then stood up to return the textbooks and reference books back to their respective shelves. She walked towards the shelf which was located a bit further from where she sat with Nora, and when she put the books back, Pyrrha's thoughts returned to the issue about her partner. She sighed yet again, wondering if Ren managed to get anything out of him.

"There's an old saying that you will lose one year of your life whenever you sigh."

Pyrrha jumped slightly at the sudden voice, she turned to see Sterling standing a few feet away from her, leaning on a shelf. "Mr. Cole!"

"'Sup, Pyrrha." He greeted with an easy-going smile. "And you made me sounds old, just Sterling will be fine. I saw Nora dozing over there, but I didn't see the other two."

"Well - Jaune, he…. May needs more rest." Pyrrha replied with a strained smile. "Ren will be here soon to catch up with us."

"I see…" Sterling's smile dimmed slightly before he turned around. "Well, you do your thing…"

"Wait!" Pyrrha called out as the man stopped immediately.

"...Yes?"

She felt a tad embarrassed for calling him out of the blue, yet suddenly not sure what she wanted to say. Eventually, she looked around to learn that they were pretty much alone in one of the aisles. "Um… Can you spare a few minutes? I'd like to talk."

The man stared into her eyes for a few seconds before giving a soft sigh himself. "Sure, what is this about?" He turned around to fully face her while leaning on the same spot earlier.

"It's…. About Jaune…" Pyrrha said with uncertainty in her tone. A second later, however, she steeled herself as she looked straight to a pair of silver eyes. "...Mr. Cole, did you have anything to do with Jaune's current behaviour?"

If Sterling was offended, he did not show it. Instead, his eyes widened slightly in amusement. "I believe I told you to talk things out with Jaune himself. Besides, what brought this on?"

Pyrrha lightly winced at the retort, but she persevered. "Jaune is still uncomfortable to talk about it, but I could see the signs the past few days. From how he kept boldly challenged you in combat lessons, how much he was paying attention to your match against the seniors… I just…. Have this hunch."

The two then fell into an uncompanionnable silence, the girl waited for reaction - thinking that Sterling would be offended this time. Much to her surprise, however, the man responded with a small snort. "You are right, Pyrrha. Mr. Arc and I… have a deal."

Pyrrha narrowed her eyes at the way Sterling referring her partner. "A deal…? Rather, did you possibly…?"

"Yes, I know about _that_ , Pyrrha." The man nodded. "Your argument with your partner that night wasn't exactly quiet."

Pyrrha was visibly distraught, but she shook her head to stay focus. "...What kind of deal did you make with Jaune?"

"I'm afraid you need to hear it from Mr. Arc himself. I have no obligation to indulge you further." Sterling simply replied.

Pyrrha winced again, but she seemed to accept the answer, albeit reluctantly. "Will you…. Report about this? About Jaune?"

Claude noticed the fear in her tone, as well as her attempt to fish more information out of him from different angle, but he ignored it. "...It all depends on the kid himself."

Pyrrha looked down, her expression went even sourer. A minute or two later, she let out a breath. "I see… Thank you for your time, Mr. Cole." She said with defeated expression as she walked past him.

Before Pyrrha could have walked too far, Claude called out. "Ms. Nikos."

The girl stopped, turning her head slightly so Claude could see her questioning, yet hopeful eyes. "One more thing before you go - your team leader is in a pinch; he ran into a wall and can't overcome it. What are you going to do about it? Consider this as a test for your teamwork and partnership."

Pyrrha looked down, taking his words for a second before she nodded. Then she made a turn and disappeared from his sight. As she walked back to her friends, the girl contemplated of the whole situation.

She moved to Vale and enrolled to Beacon Academy to escape her old life in Mistral and start anew. She was sick of being treated as some kind of strongest warrior, she was sick of unable to make friends that were willing to see eye-to-eye at her, she was sick of plastic smiles that the people wore around just to gain her favour. Her team, her partner, were signs - no, a _proof_ that she could still live as a normal girl wanting to be a huntress. Sure, Jaune was in a deep end and just pushed her away; but was that enough for her to leave him be, especially when he was still trapped in his troubles? She wanted a friend that would accept her for who she was, and wasn't this an opportunity? Rather, wasn't it normal for her to help a friend in need?

Pyrrha Nikos stopped on her tracks, her eyes closed as she considered all of her choices. A few seconds later, she opened her eyes as she made up her mind. _Sterling was right, this is a test_ \- even if she was not the leader, it was still her team; she would be damned if she chose only to watch her team crumbled, watch her partner got taken away from her.

* * *

Weiss Schnee walked towards the library after lunch time, planning to study alone herself. She usually would have her partner by her side, but Ruby wanted to spend the weekend in leisure, and considering that there was no any upcoming assignment, Weiss chose that her young leader could use some R&R time. Yang chose to accompany her sister, saying something about family time, and Blake volunteered to keep them out of trouble. Hence, Weiss was on her own by the time she reached the library.

She walked through the space between the aisles of book shelves, looking for a vacant table she could use. However, when her eyes spotted a familiar face, she immediately took a cover behind a shelf. From her hiding spot, she saw Sterling Cole was reading one of the several books piling up next to him, his expression was serious as he read and made notes of it.

Her conversation with Ruby and Professor Goodwitch came to her mind. It should have been enough time for the deputy to come up with a result about his background, as well as his intention on Beacon Academy. Perhaps some delay? For all she knew, her team would probably receive a news in the next few hours.

Looking back at the supposedly new teacher, Weiss believed there could be no better opportunity. Perhaps she was being hasty, but considering where they were and other factors, it was the best chance for her to confront the man himself. _Just don't come too strong on him, and there should not be any problems_.

She then walked to grab some books of her intended subject first - _it would send a wrong message to suddenly just sit on the same table and strike up a conversation out of nowhere_. With a couple of text and reference books in her hands, Weiss walked with natural gait towards the table where Sterling was at. She put down the book as she took a seat, and she looked at her and widened her eyes slightly, as if it was a pure coincidence that she and the teacher sat on the same table.

"Oh, Mr. Cole. What a coincidence." Weiss with feigned surprise. Having to accompany her father to deal with a handful amount of corporate big-shots during her time in Atlas, she had learned one or two tricks about putting up a friendly front. "Is this seat free, by any chance?" She added the polite question.

The man only raised his eyebrows for a second, but he eventually smiled and gestured her that the seat was free - _first step complete_. Now, she only needed to wait for a few minutes before starting a conversation.

"Where is you team, Weiss?"

The heiress blinked at the unexpected, but not unwelcome sudden question from the teacher in training. The conversation had begun without her doing anything - _convenient_.

"Ruby and Yang are probably relaxing in their dorms, while Blake keeps an eye on them." Weiss replied, making sure that her eyes darted alternately between her reading and the man. When she glanced at the books that Sterling was reading, Weiss had to raise an eyebrow. _Ionic Theory, Properties and Applications of Electron, and Dust-related subjects?_

"What are you writing, Mr. Cole? If you don't mind me asking." Weiss asked out of curiosity, as well as proceeding her plans to fish for information. Starting a common topic was a good start at information gathering; a lesson that she had learned from her father - as much as she disliked the old man himself. The readings the teacher trainee having were not exactly easy topics.

"Just some reference notes…" He replied while writing some more. When he noticed Weiss' intrigued looks, he smiled and held up his thumb and index finger together. "Do you remember my Semblance?" an electric current appeared between the two fingers. "To be honest, I have yet to learn all of what my Semblance can do. Shooting lightning blast and electromagnetism are just the tip of the iceberg. There are lots of things I can do more with my power, that's why I'm here, looking for possibilities."

Weiss nodded in understanding - generating an electric current was a powerful and versatile ability. After all, electricity could be considered as a secondary power source after Dust, and could be found everywhere in society nowadays. However, she soon shook her head, noticing that she almost forgot of her intentions about Sterling. _Listen carefully to every words used in the conversation, and you can find a point where you can turn the tide to your favour_.

"That's… very studious of you." Weiss noted, preparing herself to go for the main topic. "...But I would think you'd have learned all of that during your time at Beacon Academy."

"Just between the two of us, Weiss…." Sterling's smile widened slightly as he gave her a knowing look. "...I've never been really the type who studies."

"That's a bit of a surprise to me, Mr. Cole, considering what you are capable of..." Weiss smiled at the small humour, but that was all she did - _it's time to go for offensive_. "...Does it have anything to do with the fact that none of the fourth and third years recognising you?"

Weiss waited for his reaction, and while he stopped his writing, Sterling simply raised a single eyebrow at her question - _Let's push him a bit more_. "Come to think of it, you graduated from Beacon, didn't you?"

This time, Sterling leaned back on his seat, his expression became a tad awkward. Weiss smirked inwardly - _gotcha_. However, the moment of victory was short-lived when Sterling began to speak.

"Did you hear that from Ruby?"

Weiss only gave him a single nod, prompting him to continue. "Well…. There's a bit of misinformation and misunderstanding. I was summoned last night, to talk with Professor Ozpin and Goodwitch…. Well, it was a misinformation with the latter, actually."

That gained a confused look from Weiss - _what's he getting at?_ She was expecting some shady secret; Sterling's expression was awkward, sure, but did not show any indication that his was in danger or anything like that.

"When I told Ruby and Yang that I was from Beacon, it's not in a sense that I was a student and graduated." He explained. "Tell me, Weiss. How do you think one can become a huntsman or huntress?"

Weiss furrowed her eyebrows at the question, but she decided to answer in the end. "By attending a huntsman academy for four years, and passing the final examination at the end of final year."

"Hm, you are not wrong." Sterling nodded. "However, what matters here is the huntsman examination. Did you know that you don't need to enrol into an academy to attend huntsman examination?"

That caused the heiress to blink. "...Excuse me?"

"The Remnant requires every capable hands to fend off the Creatures of Grimm, Ms. Schnee." Weiss did not miss the man's formal way on addressing her. "We don't really care about who graduated from what academy, as long as they know how to fight and willing to protect civilians from the danger outside the kingdoms' borders. They are qualified enough to be huntsmen."

Weiss could not really argue with the latter point, but she still could not grasp the whole picture.

"The combat schools and huntsmen academies are simply the formal and common routes for people to attend the huntsmen examination. We will teach them, shape them and harness their efforts, their potentials, so they have a chance to pass the examination and get their licenses. However, there's another route, other than attending academies, for someone to attend the exam…. By going through apprenticeship."

Weiss' mouth slowly formed an 'o' shape, her eyes widened slightly as she began to grasp Sterling's point.

"Apprenticeship under a licensed huntsman can grant you recommendation papers to enrol into an academy… Or go straight to the examination when the legal conditions are met." Sterling explained. "In my case, I trained and learned under someone for four years straight outside of academy grounds; then I applied for huntsmen examination through my mentor's recommendation."

"But… about you being from Beacon…?" Weiss pointed out.

"I'm not sure about other kingdoms, but in Vale, most of matters regarding huntsmen and huntresses were entrusted to Ozpin and Beacon Academy. The test was provided by Beacon itself, and I received my license and paperworks from the academy as well, although with the stamp from Ozpin and Vale council to make things more official. Besides, the mentor who trained me was… Well, _is_ also affiliated with Beacon Academy, so that kind of makes me a graduate from here, albeit not as a formal student."

Weiss simply stared through Sterling's explanation. Her brain was trying to make heads and tails of things. It was fairly easy to make sense of things, in the end; although there was one more question. "And… What about your team? Ruby once mentioned about you having one."

Sterling simply exhaled while maintaining his easy-going smile. "It was not long after I received my license - my mentor decided to assign me into a team as a leader. We worked together for a while, but we eventually went our separate ways… On a good note, of course."

"Still…. Apprenticeship?" Weiss narrowed her eyes skeptically. "I never heard anything about this."

Claude simply shrugged. "Understandable, since taking apprenticeship has become an uncommon tradition become a huntsman. It's just that people deem that enrolling a huntsmen academy grants them more safety - learning how to become huntsmen in more controlled environment. Because when you become a huntsman's apprentice, you will be expected to accompany them on dangerous missions, whether you like it or not. Still, if you still don't believe it, try look it up. There are many cases in the past where a huntsman or huntress got their licenses without enrolling to any academy."

"I see…." the heiress made a mental note to do a quick research about it. "Then, how come did Professor Goodwitch not knowing about you?" Weiss asked again.

"Yeah, about that…." Sterling's expression went awkward again, scratching his cheek. "...Apparently, my teacher decided to make a quick deal with Ozpin and pulled a few strings, so I was allowed to attend the examination during an inactive period… The same time when Professor Goodwitch was having a holiday…. Suffice to say, she was not amused about being kept out of the loop during our talk."

"...Oh." Weiss somewhat could understand about people from high places using legal loopholes for convenience's sake. "Very well…. I guess that explains a few things about your background…" She held her chin thoughtfully. "...One more question, though. Who was your mentor, if I may ask?"

"Err…." This time, Sterling's expression became very uncomfortable. However, before he could have spoken anything, another voice intervened.

"Haha! So there you are, Mr. Cole!"

Sterling sighed while Weiss looked at the source of the new voice - Peter Port was approaching them with his usual exuberant air around him. When the heiress looked between the older man and Sterling's reaction, her mind connected the dots immediately. "...Oh!"

"Yeah, I'd rather keep it away from public knowledge. No offence to the man, though." Sterling whispered as Port arrived next to his desk.

"Good morning to you, Ms. Schnee." Port greeted the girl, who politely returned the greeting as well, before he turned to the younger man. "And good morning to you too, lad!"

"Good morning... _sir_." Weiss noticed the strain on Sterling's tone at the end.

"...Having a private tutoring session, I see? It's good to have a good dynamics between a teacher and student!" Peter commented as he saw the books on the table.

"Oh, um, no… I just accidentally ran into Mr. Cole when I was about to study by my own. We just ended up having a conversation." Weiss nervously darted her eyes between the smiling Port and sheepish-looking Sterling.

She held nothing against Port, but from what she had known about the veteran teacher so far, Peter Port could be…. _Overbearing_ , too much to handle for every now and then. She somehow could see why Sterling did not want people to know who he had received his skills from. Then again, considering what Sterling Cole capable of doing so far, Weiss' opinion about Professor Port also raised somewhat. To be able to mold a huntsman of Sterling's calibre, she supposed Peter Port was really a competent teacher, despite his behaviour.

"That is also fine, lass!" Port's remark brought Weiss back from her thoughts. "This is weekend, a perfect time to get knowing each other better! I personally encourage a light-hearted dynamic between teachers and students of Beacon Academy!"

"That's… good to hear." Weiss returned (barely)politely. Feeling that she was about to become a third wheel with Port's arrival. She then stood up from her seat and picked up her books. "My, look at the time. I need to reunite with my team for lunch break. Thank you for your time, Mr. Cole, Professor Port, and a have a good day."

"Have a good day as well, Ms. Schnee!" Peter jovially returned, while Sterling simply nodded while waving at her with a small smile on his face.

However, before Weiss could have gone too far, Sterling called out. "Oh, one more thing, Weiss!" When the heiress turned around, his smile widened slightly. "Can you inform your team about our talk today? I'll also tell Professor Goodwitch about it to save everyone the trouble."

A second later, Weiss smiled and nodded, before she quickly checked her books out and left the library.

oXo

Once they made sure they were alone and have made sure that Weiss was out of sight and earshot, Claude sighed while Peter's face turned neutral. "...You pulled it off." the older man commented.

"Yes, yes, I did, Peter…" Claude nodded in return. "Thanks for the assist back there. Have you been watching?"

"I was merely walking around when I caught the size of you and Ms. Schnee talking to each other, sir. Then, I figured I should check things out while playing my role at the same time. Turns out I've made a correct decision."

Claude nodded approvingly, and Peter also gave a small smile in return. The two fell into another few seconds of silence until Peter broke it. "...You know that it will become even more difficult to tell them the truth."

Claude's expression darkened, his hands on the table clenched into fists, as he heaved a deep sigh at Peter's remark. "I know, Peter. I know…." He closed his eyes - the image of his family suddenly flashed in his mind. "But… at least until I'm sure that they're safe…"

"Just so you know, sir. I understand." Peter stood closer to place a supportive hand on Claude's shoulder, and gave a soft squeeze before letting go. A minute later, he decided to change the topic. "Speaking of students…. Does Mr. Arc's recent behaviour have anything to do with you?"

The atmosphere around Claude brightened up at the new question, as he simply flashed Peter a knowing smirk.

"For some reason I don't really like your expression at the moment, sir." Peter retorted with a sigh.

"Oh, ye of little faith." Claude waved off. "Relax, pops. I got this one under control."

Peter nodded in acceptance. "If you say so. Just give the poor lad a break."

* * *

A sound of metal clanging on the ground echoed as Jaune gasped for breath. He slumped down to his fours on one of the vacant training grounds. He was drenched in sweat - bits of salty water were dropping on the floor beneath him.

He stared down at the sword laid beneath his palm, then glanced at the shield strapped on his other hand. They felt heavy - no, his entire body felt heavy; how long had he been doing this? He had lost count ever since he left his team behind after lunch, for some time alone to train himself. Yet, he still could not imagine himself impressing Sterling Cole in any way. He had screwed up, he's lost, and his days at Beacon were getting shorter by the looks of things.

Honestly, 10 days were not enough for Jaune to improve and convince Sterling to keep him at Beacon. Was all of this merely the teacher's cruel joke - allowing him some time to make peace with his friends before he finally left forever in shame?

 _Whatever_ \- he had been given a chance, and he'd rather milk out all of its worth. Then again, his legs were failing him as he ended up landing on his rear. He was still drenched in sweat, his clothes were sticking on his skin. Eventually, he decided to use a quick breath while mulling things over.

Was the whole 10 days thing only given to him so he could make peace with everything, delaying the inevitable? Jaune had seen how outmatched he was compared to his peers, let alone Sterling. Should he had accepted Sterling's offer of dropping him from the rooftop, and leaving Beacon on a better note?

He ran a hand through his blonde locks as he shook his head. He could not do that; lying his way _into_ Beacon was bad enough, his conscience could not afford to lie his way _out_ of Beacon as well. Still, what could he possibly do at this rate? He had accepted a challenge out of his league for some faint hope - he had nothing, or nobody to rely on. Pushing his face into his hands, Jaune struggled to keep his tears out of his eyes.

 _Please…. Someone, anyone… Help._

"...Jaune?"

He looked up and saw not just Pyrrha - Nora and Ren following after her. "Pyrrha…? Guys? What are you doing here?"

"Checking up on you, silly!" Nora cheerfully quipped, as she arrived first to him and 'booped' him in the nose.

Now that Jaune was surrounded by his teammates, he found that they came with towels and several bottles of sport drinks. Sensing what they were planning, Jaune quickly shook his head. "Look, guys-!"

"Quiet!" Before Jaune could have said anything further, Pyrrha immediately knelt down and pushed her finger on his lips, silencing him. "You've been doing this for long enough, and I can't - won't stand for it any longer."

Jaune simply blinked at Pyrrha' uncharacteristic boldness, darting his eyes at Nora and Ren questioningly. The pair simply shrugged with the former giving him a knowing grin.

"I'm sick of this…" Pyrrha began, she was frowning at thee floor between her and Jaune. She shut her eyes for a second before she met her orbs with his. "I'm sick of having you keep pushing us away. We want to help, Jaune, and we mean it."

Jaune's heart clenched as his eyes began to water. He wanted to stand up, he wanted to argue, but was too exhausted to put up a strong front. "But I-!"

"No buts!" Nora suddenly interrupted while pointing her finger at him. Jaune turned wide-eyed to see the grin had vanished from her face, replaced with concerned looks.

Ren also followed suit. "Jaune, I'm pretty sure that you still remember what we talked about earlier, but I will say it again - you're not just our leader, Jaune. You are our friend."

"...And we'll never forgive ourselves if we just sit around while watching you struggling and suffering by yourself." Pyrrha finished.

Jaune stared speechless at his team; they refused to avert their gazes away from him, while he was tempted to avert his. However, a pair of hands softly rested on either sides of his head, keeping his face in front of everyone. "Jaune, please…." his blue orbs met with Pyrrha's green ones, her expression was pleading. "...Let us in."

Jaune bit his lips, hurt by the looks given not only by Pyrrha, but Nora and Ren as well. Then, the deal he made with Sterling came to mind. He wanted to pass Sterling's test, of course, but if the whole deal was destined to fail any way…. He might as well taking precaution by making peace with his friends while he still had the time.

"I… I'm sorry." Jaune clenching his eyes shut, his own hands came to pry Pyrrha's hands off his head. "...I'm so sorry." he said while kept holding Pyrrha's hands in his own. "I've not been truthful to all of you."

Then, Jaune told his team _everything_ \- from his fake transcript, his reason to do so, and the deal he had made with Sterling on the other night. At the end of it, Jaune looked down, afraid to see how his friends would react.

"Well, I guess we better start working on it, eh?"

Jaune looked up when he heard Nora's voice, and saw his friends' expressions. There was no anger, disgust, or scorn. The ginger-head girl was smiling in excitement, while Ren was giving a thoughtful look.

"We still have a little over a week to work on. That's plenty, albeit I think it would be hard to convince someone on Mr. Cole's calibre."

Jaune was stupefied at his friend's reaction, he turned to look at Pyrrha, who was smiling warmly at him. "We'll figure something out." She said as she tightened her grip on his hands.

Jaune's eyes began to water more. "Y-you guys are fine with this?"

"Oh, believe me, we definitely don't condone you cheating your way to Beacon." Ren retorted with a tiny, teasing smile. "...But you did help us to pass the initiation, that says plenty of your skill."

"We JNPR sticks together!" Nora pumped her fists up.

"We won't have anyone else as our leader, Jaune."

Pyrrha's words were the final nail on the coffin, as Jaune's tears finally fell from his eyes, flowing freely on his cheeks. "Thank you…" he sobbed, feeling ashamed, yet grateful at the same time. "T-thank you…. I...I-I'm so sorry…"

At Jaune's heartfelt gratitude, the rest of team JNPR simply scooted closer toward their leader, offering their hands in comfort.

 _There might be hope, after all_.

* * *

 **In case of busy times for the next two weeks, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, everybody!**


	14. Jaunedice (IV)

**RWBY: The Redeemer**

* * *

 **Howdy, folks! Long time no see! Following my current stage of life, I've decided to try out this pattern regarding my updates, for those who are following me. I will finish my RWBY Redeemer until the end of vol.1 canon, then I will start working on my One-Punch DxD. However, depending on circumstances, you may expect some sudden updates of special chapter on the Fist Marks. Without further ado, onto the show!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY**

* * *

 **Beta-read by Starlight's Poet**

 **Chapter 13: Jaunedice (IV)**

Sounds of pounding leather echoed across the gym, as Claude - topless and clad in long jersey pants to cover his lower half, was doing boxing exercise against a two-meter tall sandbag hanging by hooked chains. His cloth-wrapped knuckles had been striking against the sandbag surface for who-knows how long during the night. His body was drenched in sweat, yet he did not show any signs of slowing down. In fact, his jabs, hooks and straights became more vigorous, furious even, as his mind reminiscing the recent events; the news from one Qrow Branwen, as well as everything else that led him to his current situation.

Yes, the news that Qrow dumped on him did, _indeed_ involve his late sister, Summer Rose. That thought alone only caused him to pick up his pace on beating the crap out of the hanging sandbag before him.

 _Left, right, left, left, right, right, right, left_ \- Claude's fists kept furiously hitting the bag, each hit forced the bag to sway, the chains rattling.

Then, when Summer came to his mind, so did the the past memories, as Claude did not stop his boxing.

 _Right, left, left, right, left, right, right, left_ \- memories of the battle, where Claude, Peter and Summer chose to buy some time for their friends to escape from the Creatures of Grimm.

 _Right, right, left, left, right, left, left, right_ \- the battle went well, despite the overwhelming odds, until a giant Grimm landed a cheap shot at Summer, leaving his sister injured and exhausted, all while calling out to him with weak voice.

 _C...laude…._

 _Left, right, right, left hook, right straight_ \- Peter Port, one of his closest friends vehemently refused to leave him alone.

 _Are you out of your mind!? We can't leave you alone here!_

 _Just get the hell out of here and I'll catch up! That's an order!_

 _Right hook, left, left straight, right, left_ \- then during his last stand, Claude somehow leapt through time and woke up after 20 years had past, followed with revelations of what his friends had become from Ozpin and Qrow.

 _Your disappearance hit all of us hard… Raven..._

 _I'm sorry, Claude…. But Summer is…._

To make matters worse, the most recent news that Qrow found regarding his late sister came again to his mind. His teeth gritted, gnashing in fury as his one right straight punched the sandbag so hard that the chains holding it snapped and threw the heavy punching bag a couple feets away. The force of Claude's rage-induced boxing also tore the leather surface, spilling out the sandy content all over the floor. Claude then tried to stabilise his breathing as he looked at the ruined sandbag for a few moments, once he got his breathing more controlled, he walked to the side and picked up another sandbag - which he had prepared 5 more spares in advance; he still had yet to reach his quota for the night.

He then began another session; after setting up his stance, he proceeded to land several punches around the bag before he stopped for another breath. "...Are you going to watch from there all night?" He did not turn his face away from the sandbag, but his eyes darted towards the door.

From the entrance of the room, a feminine figure stepped out. She was clad in a black and white clothing, with her amber eyes bore into him. "Can I help you, Ms. Belladonna?" Claude asked as he relaxed his stance and finally turned to face her.

Blake Belladonna did not say anything in return for a second as she took in the man before her. Despite her calm front, she had to admit that the man before her was, in more ways than one, _dangerous._ She barely managed to tear her eyes away from the sight of his torso - ripped with muscles, but lean - not bulging with useless ones; a few scars littering his body was enough testament that the man was no stranger to life and death situations. She glanced around the room for a second; a ruined punching bag, and five more spares on the side. _Men_ \- Blake scoffed while holding down an eye-roll, she did not come for mere observation.

"...I'd like to talk." the girl said cryptically without changing her expression, nor moving from her spot by the door. Although she shifted her footing so she leaned lightly on the door frame.

"...I'm listening." Claude shrugged as he continued his exercise. To be honest, he was not actually in mood of humoring one of the students, particularly the nearby emo-looking girl.

In the midst of the sounds of punching, Blake took a breath and went to the point. "Who are you, really?"

That question caused Claude to pause for a second before resuming his boxing. However, his eyes glanced back at the young woman. "...Didn't Ms. Schnee give you the memo?"

"She did, and I don't buy it." Blake narrowed her eyes at him. "I will ask again, who are you, Mr. Cole… Or should I say, Mr. Rose?"

The sound of his surname caused Claude to stop, leaning on both hands against the sandbag as he took a steadying breath. With a sigh, he relaxed his posture as he began to unwrap the cloth around his knuckles. "...When did you find out?"

"Does it matter?" Blake shot back. "I'm the one asking a question, aren't I?"

"...Fair enough." Claude smiled lightly while letting out a soft huff. "I… can't tell you yet, but for now, I'm just a huntsman who stands with Beacon."

Blake only stared at him right in the eye for a few seconds, before she sighed, when Claude noticed that the bow on top of her head twitched again. "...I see." Blake then spoke again after a second pause. "This just a curiosity from my part; are you standing with Beacon, or with Ruby?"

At Blake's question that implied his surname, Claude did not say anything - he simply shrugged as he finished unwrapping the cloth off his hands, and proceeded to pick up one of the spare sandbag on his shoulder and began walking towards the door, going past Blake in the process. The girl only stared at his retreating back for a few moments before she sighed softly. "...Sorry for interrupting, then."

"Before you go, Blake." However, before she could have walked further away, Claude suddenly called out to her first name. "...What are you going to do with this info?"

She paused to see Claude was lookin at her, hosting a heavy punching bag on his shoulder. "Do you want me not to tell my team anything?" Blake glanced back with a knowing smirk.

In return, Claude remained indifferent while shrugging. "It's up to you, to be honest. At least I prefer to be prepared to face the music tomorrow."

Blake huffed lightly, seemingly a bit disappointed for not gaining any reaction. "I will keep this between us… For now. At least I think you don't plan to harm anyone." She could tell the sign during the initiation - of how the man before him protected her young leader, as well as all of them from the Creatures of Grimm.

Obviously, she did not trust him, a stranger; but after the initiation, or to be precise, when Blake caught him sparring with headmaster Ozpin himself, Blake began to question Claude's motives - _why would he lie about his identity? What is his actual stance with Ruby? Why would the teachers also play along with the ruse?_ \- the questions piled up, and Blake did not get anything, at least anything useful. At the very least, Blake confirmed that the young teacher in training was not an enemy…. _For now_.

Then again, Blake also knew well enough that she also had her own secret, her own skeleton in the closet. Who was she to judge someone for having a secret or two? As long as it was not anything harmful, she was willing to stay quiet and not to jeopardize her own attempt to start a new leaf.

Claude hummed in appreciation and walked away. As she watched Claude's retreating back vanished at a corner, Blake let out one more breath and she walked away to opposite direction. She could not bring herself to leave the topic alone; perhaps she could take her time to find the answers herself.

* * *

The sun slowly peeked from the horizon to signal the beginning of new day, and Claude had already begun his usual morning run. Needless to say that he did not get much sleep last night after his practice, but it was nothing he's not used to. Enjoying the morning air helped him to clear his mind of the past and focus on the present. As he felt the cold air brushing off his front during the run, Claude caught a sight of yellow and red on the corner of his eyes, or to be precise, the sight of yellow and red hair.

Jaune Arc and Pyrrha Nikos were doing their own exercise - to be precise, the latter was seen helping the former through series of sit-ups, with him laying on the ground and her kneeling in front of him, holding his feet to give him more leverage. Claude stopped, wiping a sweat the rolled down to his chin while he watched the two partners working out. The sight brought a smile to his face when two voices suddenly popped out behind him.

"Hi, Sterling!"

Claude whipped his head around to see Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren behind him. The two were clad in their own tracksuit; the former was holding a basket covered with a cloth while the latter was holding a thermos.

"Good morning, Mr. Cole." Ren greeted politely, in contrast of her partner's loud one.

"Morning, you two." Claude greeted back with a smile before he looked at Ren. "... And just Sterling is fine. Helping your leader out to train?" He jerked his thumb at Jaune and Pyrrha, who were looking at them after hearing Nora's voice.

"You bet!" Nora replied with her ever-present grin. Soon Jaune and Pyrrha also joined them, with the former sporting a wary look at Claude.

"Good morning, Mr. Cole." Pyrrha greeted with amicable smile. Whether Jaune was too exhausted or scared to greet the teacher, the latter did not bother to address it.

"Sterling is fine…" Claude gave a soft sigh before replying, "...And morning, you two. It seems you four…" Claude looked at every member of JNPR. "Have started to behave more like a team. That's good." He said with a smile of approval.

"Um… Thank you?" Pyrrha replied, her tone sounded uncertain somehow. Nora, however, was looking excitedly at Ren whom simply shrugged.

"Hey, now. I'm serious. I believe your team dynamics have improved, especially you, Jaune-boy." Claude said as he turned his gaze at Jaune, who blinked at the words directed at him.

Jaune's eyes gained a hopeful glint. "So, does that mean...?"

"No."

Jaune's eyes then looked downcast at the second Claude gave him the negative reply. Pyrrha then stepped over to cover Jaune. "Mr. Cole, can you please reconsider? What Jaune did was wrong, but hasn't he proven himself capable during initiation?"

"Perhaps, and that is why I'm willing to give him a chance to redeem himself in the first place." Claude replied without backing down. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but the reason Jaune was able to pass the initiation was because you guys had been doing the hard work while he did the planning…. And also tackling me to the ground." Claude added the last part after a bit of recollection.

Everyone glanced at each other, wordlessly conceding with his point. "But doesn't that mean Jaune-jaune is awesome at leadership? In fact, he's strong enough to put you down!" Nora tried to argue.

Claude gave a small smile. "Put me down from my blindspot and when I was restrained, you mean. And while the mind can be one's greatest weapon, but an idea without action is meaningless. A good head on shoulders is crucial, but it's not the only thing that makes a huntsman. Every huntsman needs to be capable of, not only looking after others, but looking after himself as well." He finished with a pointed look at Jaune, whom looked to the ground with a thoughtful expression.

"In fact, what about looking at this from another angle." Claude raised up a finger, garnering looks from JNPR. "Let's say that I decided to ignore Jaune's case altogether, and the kid would end up doing poorly in class. It'd be only a matter of time until, for example, Professor Goodwitch started to question and trace back his papers, his previous schools, etc. Perhaps Jaune was lucky that Goodwitch didn't realise the forgery, but what would happen when she finds out?"

Everyone's face paled slightly at the thought; Glynda Goodwitch was a good teacher, and someone who held laws and rules in the highest regard. Were she to find out that Jaune cheated his way to Beacon, she would have expelled him without a second thought; not to mention if Beacon would also choose to charge Jaune for fraud.

"Yeah, there you have it." Claude noted the students' expression. "Well, I'll let you guys carry on with the training now. Good luck." He finished by nodding at Jaune.

As the four watched their teacher (trainee) jogged away, Jaune ended up thinking of what Claude said about his situation. Assuming that he could prove himself capable, in the end the young instructor only promised not to blurt his secret away; could he still hold himself together throughout the school year? What if, despite his best effort, Glynda Goodwitch, Ozpin or perhaps other faculties still got a wind of his fake transcript, and chose to expel him all the same? Sterling Cole would not have any power to back him up…. Or could he?

"...Jaune?"

The blonde blinked to see Ren and Nora looking at him. "Is something wrong?" The former asked with worried tone.

Jaune took a second to vanquish his current dilemma - _focus on the current problem, whether other people will find out won't matter if I fail now_ \- "I'm fine, just needed a second to catch my breath." Jaune said while slapping his palms on his cheeks before he flashed a determined grin. "So, what are we doing next? Pyrrha?"

The redhead in question was seen staring at the direction where Sterling had vanished earlier. "Pyrrha? What's wrong?"

The girl blinked and shook her head for a second before she gave an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, it's just…. Something that's been in my mind for a while."

"Which is…?" Nora asked curiously.

Pyrrha bit her lower lip while her eyes darted between her friends nervously, before she finally replied, "Sterling Cole…. Ever since the first time I saw him, I can't help but feel a sense of deja vu around him. Like, I've seen him sometime, somewhere."

In return, everyone else simply gave a confused look.

oXo

When Claude returned to his living quarters, his mind trailed back to the matter regarding Jaune Arc's transcript, as he wiped his sweating body with a towel. Glynda Goodwitch was certainly not a fool; she should have been able to notice the forgery. So why had she never brought it up? Could it be that she was playing along with Ozpin's whim to give Jaune a chance at Beacon? Or could her skills getting dull?

The former was far more unlikely than the latter; then again, Claude knew Glynda well enough that the woman was way too calm when she was addressing Jaune's short-comings. He turned to his desk to see a hard-copy of Jaune Arc's paperwork. Now that he took a closer look, Claude realised that the forgeries on the papers looked somewhat familiar - the writing style, the way the letters and signatures were copied and pasted…

A few seconds later, Claude's eyes widened for a second before he let out an amused sigh. He ran his hand from his face up to his hair before he took a swig from a bottle on the table. Letting out a sigh, Claude then let out a few giggles. Perhaps had an inkling of the one who was responsible for helping Jaune in his endeavours.

* * *

"Come on, Weiss! You need to keep moving those legs! Just three minutes more!"

"How…. How are you - how are you not tired!?"

Inside the gym, Ruby Rose and Weiss Schnee - clad in their respective T-shirt and sweat shorts, were running on the two of many school-provided treadmills. Both of them were running on 'normal' running speeds, with the younger girl faring much better than the exhausted-looking heiress.

It was a free period, and team RWBY decided to do some physical training.

"Running in high speed is my thing, remember?" Ruby replied Weiss' earlier question with her breath letting out steady huffs, her feet and frame were moving within the same rhythm during her run. Her partner, on the other hand, was barely holding herself together as her hands were gripping the treadmills' bar to keep herself from falling. "Besides, Sterling said you can improve your endurance, so working on your stamina is a good start."

Weiss only groaned without talking back as she kept running (barely). Meanwhile, on the other section of the gym, Blake Belladonna and Yang Xiao Long were doing their own exercise - yoga; both of them were sporting tank-tops and gym pants in their respective color-theme, and were lying their front on top of the mat on the floor, doing several stretching movements with their backs. Blake was faring well enough; with an exhale, she bent upwards, arching her back easily enough as she pushed her torso up with both hands, while Yang was seen struggling.

"Relax, Yang, relax... Just take a deep breath and let go as you stretch back…" Blake calmly instructed in the midst of her partner's grunts and growls.

"Easier said… than done…!" Yang replied between grunts, before she collapsed herself on top of the mat with a heavy sigh. "...Is this a payback from the weight-lifting?"

"...No." Blake's reply after the long pause was enough telling.

Fortunately, Yang chose to simply pouted at her partner before she grumbled some more on the floor. "Ugh, why would people do this again?"

"This exercise can improve not only strength, but your flexibility, balance and coordination as well. Imagine it as working out in slow and static movements." Blake replied as she shifted her pose on the floor in fluid motion.

Stealing a glance to catch her partner had not moved on her position, Blake sighed as she maintained her focus. "Come on, Yang. Just for a few more minutes and we can switch up again."

"...Fine." Yang scoffed but still complied to do her best to assume the Adho Mukha Svasana pose. Grunting as she tried to stretch her bones and muscles. "Seriously, why am I doing this?" She managed to breath out.

"Per your earlier combat assessment - you need to learn how to stop yourself from tanking your opponents head-on from time to time. I reckoned this exercise can train you to be more flexible, and _you_ agreed to give it a shot… So give it." Blake reminded without opening looking back.

"Ugh…. This is all Sterling's fault…" Yang grumbled as she remained struggling in her current pose.

"Don't blame the instructor for doing his job." Blake quickly came to the teacher's defence. "In fact, I found your weight-lifting practice could be beneficial for myself. No harm in building a few more muscles every now and then."

"Heh, and I thought you don't want to do that ever again."

"Never said that. I just don't like it."

The team exercise began after their most recent combat class; after listening to Sterling and Goodwitch's assessment and criticism of their points, flaws, etc., the girls thought that they could improve one another and cover each other's weaknesses. For Ruby and Weiss, the latter had accepted the fact that endurance was not her strong suit, but she also believed that Ruby still relied too much on her Semblance, despite her talent. Hence, Ruby would have Weiss to do some running, thinking that to be a good start to instil a sense of liberty to Weiss' 'too rigid' style, as well as improving her stamina. While Weiss would teach Ruby to maintain a proper stance during combat, which she believed capable of instilling a sense of discipline to the young leader.

It was fair to say that Ruby and Weiss' fighting style were opposite of each other, in a sense. The same also went for Blake and Yang; the former's build was focused on agility and precision, while strength and brute force for the latter. Blake took it upon herself to accept Yang's idea to build some muscles on her more lithe figure, while Yang accepted Blake's idea to do yoga to instil some 'flexibility' on her person.

Some torturous minutes later - for Yang, at least, the session ended as she and Blake breathed out, both of them were standing with their hands clasped together by palms. "You didn't do bad for a first-timer." Blake said with a small, yet genuine smile.

"...Thanks." Yang replied with slightly tired tone. They turned to see Ruby and Weiss were heading towards them - with the latter seemingly on her last leg, being supported by the former. "How's the jogging, sis?" Yang's expression brightened up slightly at the sight of Ruby praising the tired-looking heiress.

"I think we are making a good start." Ruby smiled, while Weiss groaned. The four then sat on the floor, passing each other towels and drinks as they took a well-deserved break. They chatted for a few minutes when they heard the door being opened, revealing a familiar face.

"Sterling!" Ruby waved at her fellow silver-eyes with seemingly too-happy face.

Sterling Cole wore an easy smile while clad in his teacher get-up, (more or less) a suit without a loose tie. "How's the team exercise going, girls?"

Ruby glanced at her team; Weiss was still looking winded while Yang could be seen stretching a few sore spots on her figure. "We're having a good start." She said with a sheepish shrug.

"Just wait until our next combat class, buster." Yang put in her own two-cents with a challenging grin, which Claude simply replied with his own playful smile. However, Claude turned his gaze towards Blake, who gave him a small nod - a gesture that only those two understood between themselves.

Claude then clapped his hand as he returned his attention to all girls. "Welp, I just want to check on you girls. I know this is a free period, but don't end up neglecting your duties. I'm pretty sure you girls have received assignments from Port and Oobleck…. Which are due in another two days."

His words were replied with groans and moans. However, Yang quirked an eyebrow and flashed a teasing smile at him. "That's nice of you reminding us, Sterling. Are we looking at a favouritism towards four beautiful maidens here?"

In what way Yang thanked him for the reminder, Claude did not bother to find out. "Cute, but I also checked up on JNPR, since you four and them are the only first-year students for us teachers to handle."

The girls seemed to concede his point, until Ruby's form slumped forward. "Ugh, Sterling~ Can you talk to Professor Port and Oobleck to extend the deadline…. Or cancel the assignment altogether?" She whined as she sent her best puppy eyes at him.

Weiss rolled her eyes, Blake sighed while having a small smile, while Yang giggled at the young leader's antics. However, Claude only snorted into giggles himself at the sight. _Adorable_ \- but personally, he thought Summer was still cuter. "Hahaha, I'm afraid I can't do that, Ms. Rose." He replied with formal, yet amused tone. "In fact, considering that the semester hasn't gone too far yet, you all should be able to finish all papers in one hour or two…. If you paid attention to their lectures, that is."

He gained various reactions; Blake seemingly refused to make eye contact, albeit her face remained calm, Weiss seemed unperturbed, while Ruby and Yang looked nervous with avoiding eye-contact and fidgeting on their seats. Claude sighed at the sight. "...How much did you four pay attention in class?"

"Enough that I can finish over half-way at this point." Weiss replied confidently.

Blake only gave a so-so gesture with her hands, while Ruby and Yang groaned altogether. "Why does anybody do this~? Can they teach at least….. Y'know, in the way that is interesting?!"

Claude only chuckled a bit more before retorting. "That's just how they do things…. I tell you what, this is just a guess work, but…. Peter, _maybe_ , in a sense, is really preparing you girls for the field someday."

That gained looks from team RWBY, thinking that he had time, Claude then took a seat at a nearby chair overlooking the girls. "Let me ask you this; when you girls become official huntresses, what kind of mission will you find…. Annoying?"

Yang raised up her hand. "...The boring ones?"

Claude shrugged at the answer. "Not wrong, but what is boring? Try to give me something."

This time, Weiss replied. "Investigation? Observation…. Recon mission?"

"Good example, let's go with that." Claude smiled while pointing at the heiress. "In fact, I'll go to the point; if you girls can deal with Peter and Barty's class, you girls can most likely stay sane in those…. _Boring_ missions."

The four girls looked at him funny in return. "I'm serious. Let me share something with you all." Claude retorted, causing the girls to perk up in curiosity - Ruby in particular, was looking excited. "It was winter when I first began the first hunting lesson when I was 13, along with my..." Claude paused to glance at Ruby. "...Father and younger sister, who was still 12. The first thing we ran into, out of everything we expected…. Was an Ursa Major."

The girls widened their eyes in interest; an Ursa Major was formidable opponent. Running into one with children on your back? Calling it a bad situation would be an understatement.

"Oh, did your dad use some cool awesome moves to kill that Grimm? What kind of weapon did he use?" Ruby asked as she was completely engrossed with the story.

"For your question about weapon…. He never really named it, but I recall his weapon is a hybrid weapon between great sword and axe." Claude's answer prompted Ruby to start fantasizing about the weapon in her head. "...As for the first question…. Not exactly."

Everyone blinked at the statement, even Ruby was snapped out of her reverie as she and everyone else was looking at the young teacher expectantly. "Basically, instead of fighting, or retreating…. He just unlocked both of our auras and told us to fight it ourselves."

Those words elicited horrified gasps from the girls. "You're kidding…. Right?" Yang asked, and when Claude did not reply, she clenched her fists as the girls' expressions were akin to mix of horror and indignation.

"How can someone…?" However, Weiss quickly shook her head before turning into the teacher again. "But since you are here…. You and your sister made it out, didn't you?" The girls immediately turned back to regard Claude, even Yang seemed to forget her anger momentarily.

"Of course, which brings my point; for two days, both my sister and I observed - waiting for the right moment to kill it with one well-placed strike."

This time, all girls were looking at him with disbelief, as if the tension and apprehension from his story were killed altogether; albeit Ruby's eyes were still retained her curiosity. "Okay, now you're pulling our legs. You can't be serious with that one." Yang said with a small laugh.

"Oh, I'm dead serious." Claude simply retorted without changing his tone. "All three of us did was following the Grimm wherever it went. We paid attention for every details - movement pattern, hunting ground, behaviours, even surrounding environments; that can be used to our advantage, over and over. It was freezing, we're tired, hungry and thirsty, and our supply for the journey was running thin; not to mention we have to force ourselves to stay calm, lest our distress would've attracted the Grimm to our location." Claude then let out a breath at the memory.

"And your... father didn't do anything for the whole time?" Blake asked with skeptical tone.

"He just watched from behind us." Claude shrugged. "Anyway, going into details of what happened will take forever, so I'll cut through the chase; through sheer patience and keen observation, we actually managed to take it down. We almost died, but we killed it... I think."

"You think?" Weiss asked with narrowed eyes. At this point, none of the girls knew what to make out of Claude's story.

"How did you kill it?" Perhaps except for Ruby, who still looked like she was enjoying the tale.

"Basically, we brought a snow avalanche down upon it… Well, on all of us." Claude shrugged before he suddenly shivered from the sheer memory.

The girls fell into another silence at the conclusion of the story. The silence lasted for almost a minute until Weiss broke it. "...I don't believe you." Her comment was inwardly shared by her teammates as well.

"Suit yourself. I pretty much have told you my point, whether you believe or not isn't my concern." Claude replied with a shrug. He honestly could not believe himself to have gone through _that._

"That… was…. Epic!" Apparently, Ruby still liked it nonetheless.

Weiss groaned at her partner. "Ruby, you can't possibly believe that!"

Ruby argued back, "But it still sounds very cool! Well, putting the element about his dad aside..." Her tone died down slightly on the latter part.

"Well, if it's anything, while my dad is a lousy one, I guess there's a silver lining where he pulled us out of the avalanche's way." Claude's words somewhat returned some light on Ruby's face. "Not long after that, he enrolled us to a combat school and the rest is history."

"Hmph, perhaps your story does have some merit of your point about patience and everything." Weiss said with skeptical huff. "In fact, strangely enough, your story is still more believable than Professor Port's."

 _Ouch -_ "Hey, truth or not, I think his story is still a better than Professor Port's." Yang shrugged nonchalantly, causing Claude to inwardly flinch at the remark - _double_ _ouch_. "Why aren't you the one teaching us instead?"

Claude only shrugged in reply while showing an easy smile. However, when he looked over the girls, he noticed that Blake was staring at him intently with narrowed eyes. "Something on your mind, Blake?"

When the girl in question realised that all eyes were on her, she closed her eyes while letting out a breath. "It's nothing."

"I see." Claude nodded as he stood up, signing his leave. "Look, Peter might be old compared to you all, but he's a certified huntsman and a good one at that. All I ask is for you to give him a chance."

The girls looked at one another; they had no reason to refuse and they were _students_ , first and foremost. "I suppose we _do_ have to listen in our professors' classes." Weiss conceded with a soft sigh.

"Okay…"

"I'll try, but no promises."

Ruby and Yang gave their own affirmative, while Blake simply nodded with a hum.

"Thanks, girls." Claude smiled brightly, prompting Ruby to look away sheepishly; the pale skin on her cheeks darkened, which did not go unnoticed by Yang. Claude then looked at the time on his Scroll before addressing the girls again. "Well, I gotta go now, catch y'all later. Don't forget your school work and have a good one!"

Once they said their goodbyes, Claude finally left team RWBY alone in the gym room. Of course, Yang did not waste any time as soon as she confirmed that they were alone. "Someone looks happy." She said with a teasing smile towards her younger sister.

"Huh?" Ruby looked like a deer in headlights, before turning nervous while playing with her fingers. "Um, I mean, I'm always happy, why wouldn't I? What are you talking about?"

Weiss and Blake raised their eyebrows at the odd behaviour, while Yang's smile grew slightly - just one more push. "Oh, y'know. You look a bit too hot when the teach smiled at you."

Ruby's face turned almost as red as her cloak. "W-w-what are you saying?! I didn't get hot when Sterling smiled! I'm cool, always cool! I'm very, very cool, in fact!"

Weiss and Blake's eyes widened in realization, while Yang was grinning from ear to ear. "Someone's got a crush~"

Ruby's skin could not get any redder. "C-crush?! I got no crush! Sterling is awesome, but I definitely don't see him that way!"

"Oh, my! Did I specify Sterling?" Yang laughed at her sister's reaction. "D'aww, you and your first crush! Come here you, adorable creature!" She then proceeded to pull Ruby into a hug, prompting the latter to flail around in the bone-crushing embrace.

Looking at the two sisters' antics, Weiss was the first to chime in. "Ruby, I don't think I need to tell you that illicit relationship between teacher and student is inappropriate."

Ruby's face was steaming at Weiss' remarks, all while she was struggling to escape her sister's hug. "Oh, chill out, Weiss-cream. Every girl deserves to have a first love." Yang retorted with eye-roll. It might had been a tad too fast, but to see her socially-awkward little sister to be interested in a guy was better than having her interest glued to weapons all the time. Besides, as far as she knew, Sterling was _okay_ \- charming, strong, and the fact that he protected her during the initiation was already a plus in her book. Not to mention, despite Yang was wearing her work-out outfit which revealed more of her skin than usual, she had yet to catch Sterling to be the same as the other guys she had run into - those who were more interested in her boobs.

Perhaps it was because he was self-conscious in the presence of Weiss and Blake, but at least that was a nice first impression; she had to confirm his character later. "Right, Blake?" Yang turned to her partner.

The said partner blinked and found her teammates expected her to say something in return. As a matter of fact, Blake was thinking about something else about the development. She knew that 'Sterling' shared the same surname as her team leader, which, considering whatever Ruby was having towards him, caused Blake to scowl lightly. "That's…. Sort of a forbidden love…"

Blake immediately regretted what she had said when she saw Ruby's flustered face began to pale with Weiss and Yang stared at her with wide eyes - _uh oh_. Inwardly, she scolded herself; what was she thinking? Honestly, her opinion about the situation was something she had read from one of her books. Ruby was having a 'crush', which did not necessarily equal to 'love'. "Err, forget what I said. I think it's normal for Ruby to be interested in guys…. As long as neither she or him go too far...?"

Apparently, her opinion sounded neutral enough to have Weiss and Yang stop staring at her, with the latter letting Ruby go from her hug to compose herself.

"Y-y-yeah, what Blake said!" Ruby seized the chance to get herself off the spotlight. "Sterling is cool, then again, who doesn't like him?"

"Perhaps Ms. Goodwitch, judging from how they interacted during our first combat class, as well as the rest of the students who failed the initiation." Weiss quipped in before she sighed. "I believe this conversation is only a step away from getting out of hand. Should we proceed to our next schedule?"

"Y-yes, good idea, Weiss!" Ruby seemed too happy to comply. As the team also chose to follow, Blake stole one more glance at her young leader. Ruby's face had not lost the red hue, and Blake caught her holding her red cheeks with her hands while trying her best not to smile like silly.

In the end, Blake could only sigh; perhaps she needed to get to the bottom of this after all…

* * *

Claude had finished his round as he returned to the faculty room to catch up with his colleagues or just to catch a break. He walked through the door to find Thumbelina Peach sitting on one of the tables, enjoying her favourite cup of tea in her hands. "Professor Peach." He greeted with a polite nod as he approached her.

"Oh, hello, Claude. How was your day?" the old teacher smiled in return.

"Not bad as usual." Claude replied as he took a bottle of soda from the fridge and took a seat across the older woman. "What about you? Anything interesting happened?"

"The usual." Peach shrugged. "...Aside from the only first-years we have, the second-years are still a bunch of little buggers, while the third and fourth-years were at least matured enough to take importance of my lessons…. For those who are actually interested, to be precise."

At the remark, Claude simply giggled at the nostalgia of Peach teaching in classes.

"Well, at least teaching current generation is not as bad compared to deal with you and the hellion for your partner."

The last remark brought a pout on Claude's face. "I wasn't that bad…. Was I?"

Peach actually paused into thinking for a few seconds. "Now that I think back…. It's hard to say. Seriously, you and Torchwick…." She sighed as her mind trailed back to the good old times. "Roman had always been a trouble-maker…. But it's thanks to him… No." She shook her head quickly to change what she wanted to say. "...It's _partially_ thanks to him and mostly to team STRQ, that you've become the man you are now." Peach turned to look at Claude; for a second, the man before her was replaced by an image of a slightly-younger man with hard expression and _aloof_ silver eyes. "Looking at you always reminds me of how interesting people can change, for better or worse."

"Yeah… I'm as surprised as you are." Claude agreed as he looked at his reflection on the drinking bottle. _I… did change, didn't I?_ \- the images of his old friends and family flashed in his mind.

"Let's move on." Peach said after she took another sip from her cup. "How is your search going?"

Claude did not need explanation of what his old teacher was insinuating. "Still not much, 20 years of zero contact makes it really hard to track the sonnova bitch down."

Peach wanted to call out the swearing, but she had given up a while ago when it came to Claude Rose. "I…. actually just remembered something. I don't know if it can be useful, but I believe that I need to tell you, at least."

Claude was taking a sip from his bottle when Peach said those words. He swallowed the liquid and put the bottle down, his attentive expression prompted the teacher to continue. "It happened when I was invited to Tai and Raven's wedding eighteen years ago, after the ceremony…." Peach paused to take another breath and met her eyes with Claude's. "I walked out from the venue to go home, and I saw your sister outside, looking around frantically."

"What happened…?" Claude leaned his face closer, his eyes narrowed in curiosity.

"Summer told me… That she saw Roman."

Claude blinked at that. "...Really?"

"Yes." Peach nodded. "I was kind of skeptical myself, but then again, this is Summer we're talking about."

Claude nodded once to concede with Peach's point - Summer Rose was never someone who would lie about something like that. "Then…? Anything else? Has Roman been ever seen again afterwards?"

Peach shook her head slowly. "Not long after that, news about thieveries and robberies began to spread across the continent, and took another few years until the world announced Roman Torchwick as an international fugitive; the rest is history after that…. At least to my knowledge, there might have been more going on."

Claude hummed in response. To be honest, the information did not really help, considering how much the time had past. Still, an old information was still better than no information. "Thanks for sharing, prof. I'll keep it in mind." He said with a smile.

Peach nodded and took another sip. "Moving on again, I've seen our batch of first-year students."

Claude relaxed on his seat. "I see… Well? What do you think about them?"

"So far? Obviously, it's easier to teach eight students compared of 20 to 40 senior years in a class, putting their quirks aside." Peach shrugged. "However, I'd like to talk about two students in particular." When Claude found Peach's eyes met his again, he somehow knew who the teacher had in mind. "Those sisters from team RWBY…. They deserve to know, don't you think?"

Claude looked down on the table as he took another sip of soda to ease himself. "They do, but…. It's not safe."

Peach maintained her stare at her student for a second before she leaned forward. "Bullshit."

Claude looked up in mild surprise, not expecting to see Peach swearing with a straight face. "I've heard of what happened to your sister from Ozpin and Glynda…. Including Qrow's latest findings; I am sorry to hear that." Peach's expression turned melancholic. "However, is that really a good reason for you to keep the truth away from those girls?"

Claude wanted to talk back, but the no words came out. He looked down again, wondering why. However, deep down, he already knew; his current reasoning for kept hiding from his nieces was more like an excuse - just because they had valid points, did not mean they were right.

"N-no…." Claude's voice sounded hoarse when he replied a few moments after. His expression was grimaced. "But… It's just…"

Seeing his pained expression, Peach sighed. "...I'm sorry." She leaned back on her seat. "Perhaps it's not my place to compel you doing things you're not comfortable with."

"No, it's-it's okay." Claude's face relaxed somewhat. "You maybe right…. I might have to re-think things through again." He gave her a weak smile. "Thanks for telling me."

Peach nodded with her own smile before she sighed. "Summer was right all along; you do need help from time to time."

Claude chuckled in return as the atmosphere between them began to brighten up. "One more thing, Claude. I know I've asked too much, but I actually needed a favour from you."

Wearing an easy expression, Claude took a longer swig from his bottle before letting out a breath. "Ask away."

"The thing is, I'm running out of supply of red tree sap I required for my biology class, which comes from the Forever Fall…. Do you think you can bring the first-years for a short field trip?"

As the discussion went on, Claude learned several things coincidentally fell together in place; the deadline when Peach would completely run out, the date when he, Glynda and the students to possibly make it for the trip…. As well as the date of Jaune Arc's deadline. "No problem, prof. You'll get your sap by then." Claude stood up and he shook Peach's hand, then he left the faculty room, sporting a small grin on his face.

It was a short notice - he had calls to make, schedule to organize, and… more stuff to do; yet he was looking forward to it.

* * *

 **That's all for now, folks! Truthfully, I originally intended to finish the Jaunedice here, but after going through reviews for several times, I thought that the development might have to change into a different path. Hence, this chapter is more like a preparation for the climax of Jaunedice, as well as to allow me re-arranging the plot for future events. Please review and no flame, please!**

 **Ahsoei, over and out.**


	15. Jaunedice (V)

**RWBY: The Redeemer**

* * *

 **I'm just gonna say, Jaunedice and Forever Fall will be covered in this one! I do not own RWBY! Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Beta-read by Starlight's Poet**

 **Chapter 14: Jaunedice (V)**

CLANG!

Jaune grunted as he stumbled back a few steps with his trusty shield and sword in his hands. Before him, Pyrrha just finished putting up her stance, with Ren and Nora watching from the sideline. Team JNPR was having another training session in one of vacant training rooms before turning to bed. "Welldone, Jaune." The Mistral champion nodded with a proud smile. "Your reflex is a lot better now."

As soon as he saw his partner relaxed, Jaune fell to one knee to the ground. "Glad to hear that." Jaune replied, mustering sincerity in his tone, but was too exhausted to barely do so. However, a small part of his mind had a feeling that what he had achieved was still not good enough. Taking in another breath, Jaune stood up and took the stance that Pyrrha had taught him. "Let's have one more round."

Pyrrha blinked before she furrowed her eyebrows in worry. "Jaune, I believe you're already spent for tonight. The deadline of your agreement with Mr. Cole is tomorrow. You need to save your strength."

"Pyrrha is right, Jaune." Before Jaune could have retorted, Ren and Nora had also stepped into the stage. "We all know what is at stake, and that is exactly why you need to keep yourself at good condition. Breaking yourself apart won't do yourself any good."

Even Nora was looking worried; Jaune sighed and relaxed slightly, but he still had yet to sheath his sword or retract his shield. "Guys, I know what you mean… But you've seen what Mr. Cole is capable of." He said as he looked down to his hand which tightened its hold on Crocea Mors, before he looked up to his friends again. "Look, I know I'm asking a lot, but…. I feel like, want to try another thing or two. Just one more round, please?"

Pyrrha, Ren and Nora glanced at one another; the fact that Jaune asked them nicely - no, _pleaded_ them spoke something about his behaviour compared to the past. He had opened up, and was willing to rely on their support. The old Jaune would more likely to force his way through, _hell_ , he probably would train himself silly until morning as soon as everyone had gone to bed.

The redhead of the group took one more breath and met her partner in the eye. "One more round, Jaune." She said with stern, yet gentle tone. The said partner's expression brightened up, before he quickly assume his stance again.

When the two combatants had prepared themselves for another bout, Ren and Nora shared one last glance before they walked away from the stage. A few seconds later, Pyrrha Nikos charged again at the ready-looking Jaune Arc.

oXo

"It appears our new staff addition has been acclimating himself well in his new job." Ozpin said as he looked through several papers in his office.

Ozpin and Glynda Goodwitch were doing their final paperwork for the night, with the former sitting on his desk with his favourite mug of coffee and the latter looking at the tablet in her hands. "On the other hand, I believe he's acclimating too much." the woman replied, not needing explanation of who the headmaster was implying. She did not say anything more, though; after all, aside from the paperwork, Claude Rose did…. _Well_ enough for a teacher in training. "I'm still questioning his influence on the first-year students."

"Is that so?" Ozpin hummed. "But from what I've seen so far, team RWBY and JNPR are doing well so far. In fact, I noticed that the latter has shown improvements on their dynamics, Mr. Arc in particular."

Glynda sighed as she took off her glasses to massage her eyes. "Yes, that is something else I'd like to address….. Are you sure about the current state of affairs, Headmaster?"

"I will trust Claude for this matter." Ozpin said off-handedly.

"To be honest, sir… I still believe it'd be for the best if we have Mr. Arc to enrol again next year." Truth to be told, earlier, Claude had come to them and dropped several bombs - Jaune Arc's fake transcript, the 'gentlemen agreement' between Claude and Jaune, as well as the former's plan regarding the trip to Forever Fall per Peach's request; obviously, Glynda was mixed between embarrassment and rage for not realizing Jaune's forgery. However, suddenly Claude came up with his idea of dealing with the situation.

"That remains to be seen, Glynda. I agree with Claude that Mr. Arc still deserves a chance to prove himself capable." Ozpin replied as he took a sip from his mug.

Glynda only sighed again without saying another word. She was a bit skeptical, but then again, Claude Rose himself would re-evaluate Jaune Arc personally. Considering Jaune's performance during initiation, as well as his recent growth, both Claude and Ozpin managed to convince the deputy that the plan had a good chance to work out.

"Speaking of, Claude is going to have another site inspection?" Ozpin asked.

"He is; he should be ready to fly for Forever Fall anytime now." Glynda replied as she stacked another set of papers.

oXo

Claude just re-checked his baggage - a simple backpack and his favoured sword for his overnight excursion in Forever Fall forest. Considering the forest was outside of Kingdom's walls, the place would be filled with Grimm, although statistic showed that the frequency of Grimm sightings in Forever Fall was far less compared to Emerald Forest, possibly because the area was located closer to the border.

In the light of Peach's request for him and students to collect some natural samples from the forest trees, Claude decided to have look around the place and clear it out of Grimm if necessary. Hefting the bag on his shoulders, Claude walked out from his room towards the bullhead pad. On his way through the hall, he ran into a familiar face.

"Sterling!" Ruby Rose greeted him outside her room, clad in her sleepwear.

"Hi, Ruby." Claude returned the greeting with a smile. "Not asleep yet?"

"About to. I just got back from getting something to drink." Ruby replied when her silver eyes noticed Claude's gear. "You're, err… Going somewhere?"

"Site inspection on Forever Fall."

"At night…?" Ruby furrowed her eyebrows. "...Isn't your shield not finished yet?"

Claude nodded in understanding - going to the wilderness outside the Kingdom during night time was never the wisest idea; but then again, if Claude's memories still served him right, Forever Fall was less dangerous than Emerald Forest in terms of Grimm infestation. Besides, he was used to do night hunts. "I'll be fine, Ruby. Peter is coming with me, after all. Rather..." He leaned forward a bit, playfully levelling his face on Ruby's. "...Have you prepared for tomorrow?"

"Yep! Team RWBY is packed and ready!" The worried looks vanished from Ruby's expression. "Oh, I can't wait for our trip to Forever Fall!"

Claude only chuckled in amusement at his niece's giddy attitude. "Easy, there. No need to be so loud." He held up a hand while his other hand held up a finger in shushing motion, prompting Ruby to abruptly calm herself down. She cupped her mouth with both hands while her face blushed lightly in embarrassment.

Muttering a quick apology, Ruby found a hand softly caressing her crown again. Looking up, her cheeks heated up slightly at the sight of the man's gentle smile. "Your trip is coming after your class tomorrow." Claude said while his hand slowly ran through Ruby's locks. "So save your spunk until then."

"Okay…" Ruby looked down to hide her face; she wished she was sporting her cloak now.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Ruby." With one last pat on her head, Claude walked past his niece.

"Bye…" Ruby waved her hand at Claude's retreating back, which the man simply replied with a wave of his own hand without fully looking back at her. She returned to her room and went to bed, all while her hand touched the spot where his hand was on earlier.

Ruby let out a silent giggles - there were only a handful amount of people who had patted her head before, namely Yang, her father, her Uncle Qrow and her mother; albeit she could only vaguely remember the last one. She could not make the heads and tails about it; but whenever she talked to the young teacher, a strange warm feeling always appeared in her being. The hand that caressed her head was strong, yet so gentle; it made her feel safe. However, along with the warmth, came the sense of deja vu all over again.

 _Let's give him a warm, welcome home, okay?_

Her mother's voice echoed again in her mind. _What does that even mean?_ \- at this rate Ruby might as well choose to ignore that line out of annoyance. Letting out a sigh, she decided to let herself falling asleep with happy thoughts about the day, including the warmth that she felt a few moments ago.

oXo

In the midst of the sound of engine inside the bullhead heading towards Forever Fall forest, Claude and Peter were strapped on their seats next to one another inside the aircraft. "Thanks again for coming along, Pops." Claude smiled at his friend.

"The pleasure is always mine, sir." Peter returned in kind. "Though, I'd like to confirm… That our current excursion has something to do with your agreement with the young Arc?"

"Peach's request takes priority." Claude amended. "As for what you said, I just found some factors that are convenient, simple as that."

"...I see." Peter nodded, choosing to go along. Silence fell between them, as Claude looked at the night sky through the window next to him, while Peter seemed to be contemplating about something, until he decided to speak again. "Claude…. I'd like to talk about your nieces."

Claude closed his eyes as he took a deep breath for a few seconds, before silently exhaled. "...Peter, if you're gonna say what I think you're gonna say… Peach had already said it."

Peter blinked a couple of times at the reply, "...Really?"

"Yes, and I've… been thinking about it." Claude looked out through the window again, gazing at the shattered moon. "You've heard about Qrow's latest lead?"

Peter's face turned into a scowl, "Yes, I have. It's…. Disturbing."

Claude hummed in agreement, "Even if I were to confess myself to those girls…. I don't think I can bring myself to tell Yang, especially Ruby, about what might have happened to Summer."

"Nobody asked you to do so. I don't believe those girls deserve that kind of mental burden at this stage." Peter put his two-cents.

"Then again, coming clean to those girls will soon lead to where the world will be aware that Claude Rose is still among the living." Claude added. "...And probably will force whoever enemies Summer and I have made, to act more boldly."

"...Or they might think twice before making their move." Peter intervened, receiving a glance from Claude in return. "Claude, I think you're getting paranoid at this point."

"It's not paranoia when there is a good chance for your fears to come true." Claude lightly scoffed. "But still… Is it worth it? To drag those kids into my mess, just for the sake of closure?"

Peter looked contemplative for a few minutes, before he looked up to meet Claude's eyes with his. "First of all, it is _our_ mess, not yours alone. I thought Summer had hammered it into your head." He began. "Secondly, worst case scenario, that Ms. Rose and Ms. Xiao Long will be dragged into the thick of it sooner or later; and I believe the repercussion will be greater if those girls got involved without knowing anything."

Claude's scowl deepened - His sister had been involved in some kind of secret, centuries-old war; and it was only a matter of time until Ruby followed their path through their shared bloodline. It all came back to Ozpin all over again - _hell_ , it might be part of the reason behind Raven's disappearance. Peter was right, and Claude did not like it one bit.

"...Besides." Claude then found Peter's hand on his shoulder, the latter gave an encouraging squeeze. "Those girls had been raised by Summer, no? You should have more faith in them… and in your friends as well."

Claude and Peter maintained their eye contact for a while before the former gave out a deep sigh. "Fine… I'll come up with something." His words earned a pleased nod from Port. "But we'll do this my way, okay? And definitely not tomorrow or anytime soon. This is a massive bomb I'm about to drop on them. Not to mention I still have to deal with Jaune… and preferably Roman before I go to that territory."

"That is fine by me, sir. As long as you don't forget what we have talked about." Peter leaned back, amused when he heard his leader let out a small grumble. "Oh, I almost forgot! There's something I'd like to give you." He said as he lurched down to reach the compartment below his seat.

Claude blinked and raised his eyebrows in curiosity when Peter came up with a sizeable case in hand. "What's this?" Claude asked as he took the case and rested it upon his laps.

"Consider it a welcome-home gift… As well as your additional support while the other half of your Shatter Storm has yet been completed." Peter replied with a knowing smile behind the thick mustache.

Claude hummed as he unclasped the lock on the case to open it. When he pulled the case upon, his eyes widened as his breath was taken away at the sight of the content.

The lighting inside the aircraft only consisted of a couple of white light-bulbs stuck on the ceiling, yet the object inside the case was glowing with radiance of the morning sun; and despite the noise of engine around him, Claude could have sworn that he heard the harmonious voice of angels chorusing. Overall, it was probably the most beautiful thing Claude had ever laid his eyes upon, _after Summer and Raven, of course_.

"I take that you like it?" Peter asked with a smug tone at Claude's expression.

"...Peter?" Claude's lips slowly grew into a grin.

"Yes?"

"...You are a fucking legend." Claude held up his fist.

"You're welcome, sir." Peter nodded as he met Claude's fist with his own, prompting the two to chuckle together. However, before the two could have talked more, the sound of a loud beep echoed across the room, but they knew it was not an emergency.

[We are approaching LZ in five.]

The voice of the pilot was heard next. Pete and Claude quickly straightened up with the former reached again towards under his seat and held up a leather contraption. "While I'd love to tell you about the details of this child here, perhaps you'd like an immediate field test?"

Claude's smile returned to his face as he accepted the contraption and put it on his person, "Thought you'd never ask."

* * *

The next day went by without incidents; team RWBY and JNPR found themselves being accompanied by one Glynda Goodwitch towards the forest brimming in red colour.

Forever Fall was a forest located on the north of Vale, where every single tree possessing red leaves, as if they were constantly living in the warm autumn season, a trait that experts still could not fathom as they looked into Forever Fall's ecosystem and climate. Naturally, the place was infested with Grimm and small wildlives, however, the aesthetics of the view was still enough for the government to capitalize by setting up posts and perimeters for civilians and tourist's sightseeing. Additionally, some trees in Forever Fall produced special red sap when they were old or ripe enough, a substance that gathered interest of many scholars and researchers for them to study upon.

Which was why the first-year teams of Beacon Academy flew to Forever Fall after lunch break. After Glynda had welcome Peter Port back to Beacon, the teacher had reported that the perimeters had been set and the site was secure for students to explore, in which Claude chose to stay behind to welcome the party and help Glynda overseeing the field trip.

The deputy was walking in front of the students, leading them through the mass of red trees. She took a quick glance behind at the sight of students looking at the exotic sight around. "Students, while I understand that Forever Fall is a beautiful place, please remember that this field trip is not for leisure." Her words seemed to work; the students' expressions immediately focused without asking any question. Giving a small nod of approval, Glynda resumed her trek as she began explaining, "Per Professor Peach's request, we are here to collect some red sap from the trees of Forever Fall. Have you gotten your jars with you?" The students nodded while sporting bags on their shoulders, revealing several jars inside. "Once we regroup with Mr. Cole, we will split up into groups and begin the extraction. Perimeters had been secured, so please refrain from straying alone too far."

A minute of more walking later, Glynda checked into her tablet which showed the maps and coordinates of the rendezvou point. They arrived at a clearing, and the deputy looked around, expecting the sight of the young teacher trainee. She stopped searching when her eyes were zoned in at the sight of Claude Rose sleeping beneath one of the trees - his hands were folded behind his head as a makeshift pillow. Some of her students gave an amused reaction when she let out a sigh, before she decided to approach the sleeping man.

"...Is he actually taking a nap in a grimm-infested territory?" Weiss muttered in a slight disbelief, as she and everyone else watched the deputy approaching the young man.

"Well… Perhaps he and Professor Port did clear up the site, after all." Pyrrha put in her two-cents.

While students were still whispering among themselves, Glynda was already only a few feet away from Claude. After contemplating of how she would like to wake him up, she took a deep breath and narrowed her eyes slightly, glaring at the sleeping young man. Immediately, Claude's eyes shot open before he quickly leapt away from his sleeping positioned and whipped something towards the source of bloodlust he felt earlier.

Glynda raised her eyebrows a bit at the sight of what appeared to be a large revolver aimed at her. She could not tell if it was simply a revolver or a hand-cannon due to the size, but she did not really care in the end. On the other hand, she felt a slight amusement when she noticed Claude was staring at her with deadpan eyes as he lowered his gun. He sighed before he spoke with furrowed eyebrows. "...Bitch."

"Glad to see your senses haven't dulled." Glynda replied as if she was not offended by Claude's remark… or just simply ignoring it.

"You should be glad that I didn't shoot you in the face." Claude grumbled as he holstered his gun into his coat. "Seriously, did you have to wake me up like that?" He said as he rubbed the back of his head while stretching to pop out some kinks of his joints.

"What, were you having a wet dream?" Glynda scoffed, feeling particularly crass that day. When she received a silent look from Claude without a word, she felt that she asked a wrong question. "...Were you?" she asked again with dreaded tone and narrowed eyes.

Claude snorted and flashed a goofy smile. "Nah, I wasn't." He said with some snickers. "You should've looked at your face."

Glynda sighed heavily - she could not win against Claude, and it irked her all the time. "Let's call it we both are at fault and move on to the main subject at hand, shall we?"

"Sure, why not." Claude shrugged and he looked over Glynda's shoulder. "You got all the kids with you?"

oXo

Meanwhile, the students were watching the spectacle with confusion and great interest. "...Is everything okay there?" Jaune asked after he and everyone saw the younger teacher jumped out from his sleeping position and pointed his gun at the deputy headmistress.

"Why is Mr. Cole looking so spooked?" Weiss also voiced her confusion.

"I guess because he's been sleeping in a grimm-infested area that he had to keep vigilant… Although the reaction was a bit too much." Pyrrha threw in her two-cents.

"Fair enough, but I've never thought Sterling used a gun before, right, Rubes?" Yang said, turning to see the spot where her sister was standing on was devoid of anything but a few rose petals. "...Ruby?"

oXo

"You got all the kids with you?"

As if on cue, Glynda found a red blur, followed with a gust of wind ran past her. Claude on the other hand, was suddenly face-to-face with an excited-looking, starry-eyed Ruby Rose throwing question after question at him. "Whatisthatwhatisthatagunrevolverorhandcannonwhatisitsnamewhatkindofmetallicalloyousedtobuilditwhatsthebulletcalibrecanitakealookcanitouchitpleasepleasepleasepleasecozitlookssocoolipromi-!?"

However, before Ruby could have spout any more question like a gatling gun, she found her lips was pinched by two fingers, abruptly stopping her. Claude, who was keeping his finger on his niece's mouth, held up his other finger before his own lips. "Sshhhh…. Easy there, Ruby… And take a deep breath."

With her lips being sealed by a pair of fingers, Ruby blushed at the contact, yet she complied as she did as instructed through her nose. At the same time, Claude also let go of her lips, allowing her to release the rest of the air through her mouth. However, at the second she calmed down, Ruby felt a chill through her spine.

"Ms. Rose." The cause of her chill spoke with collected tone. "I believe you should not have left your team just to interrupt a conversation between adults." Glynda sent a bone-chilling glare at the young girl; ignoring a small, strange feeling when she referred Claude Rose as a fellow 'adult'.

"I-I-I-I'm sorry, Professor Goodwitch!" The pale-faced Ruby stammered as she straightened herself up.

Glynda sighed for the upteempth that day. "Let's just focus on the matter at hand, shall we?" She then turned around to pick up the rest of the students.

Meanwhile, Claude leaned closer towards his dejected-looking niece. "We can talk about my new weapon when we're back at Beacon." He whispered with a wink, earning a bright smile from the girl.

The students came along, and as they walked past Claude to do their task; Weiss gave a quick apology before she turned to scold her partner for her tardiness, Blake nodded in greeting as she walked by, while Yang patted his shoulder with a silent understanding and apologetic smile. When Claude laid his eyes at team JNPR, whom followed after team RWBY, however; he gave them an indescribable smile, a gesture that somehow made Jaune uneasy, but his friends remained by his side to show support.

Claude nodded at the team's solidarity and proceeded to clap his hands. "Okay, kids! Those jars won't fill themselves so start working! As Ms. Goodwitch has instructed, form groups of two while remained within sight! Don't wander far alone without supervision! Stay safe and have fun!"

At Claude's cheerful tone, everyone seemed to find a drive to start looking for a ripe tree. Forming groups with their respective partners, the students began filling out the forest. In the mean time, Glynda and Claude would alternately patrol the area and watch over the students.

* * *

Half an hour without incident later, Claude yawned out of boredom. His eyes darted lazily between students who were busy extracting tree sap or looking for one, the surrounding trees, and the ever-vigilant Glynda Goodwitch. When Glynda's eyes happened to meet his, Claude sent a signal by glancing between her and the students. The deputy seemed to catch on something, as she let out a small breath and gave a small nod, prompting Claude to nod in thanks and walked off to check on the students.

The first pair closest to Claude was Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie; the former was quietly filling another jar while the latter was sneaking a taste with her finger every now and then. It was still unknown if the special red sap was edible or not, but judging by the looks of Nora did not suffering any symptoms of poisoning, as well as the glittering in her eyes, it appeared that the red sap tasted delicious for her.

Considering their backs were on him, Claude smirked as he quietly approached and crouched behind Nora before he whispered, "Busted."

The reaction was priceless, as Nora seemed to choke before she abruptly raised her hands up. "I didn't do it!" Ren was also spooked by his partner's sudden outburst, which also prompted Claude to bark a short laugh of amusement. "Sterling!" Nora exclaimed as she found out who just interrupted her.

"Hey, there, you two." Claude nodded at the two - Nora was pouting while Ren remained impassive as ever. "How are things with ya?" the teacher asked with an easy-going grin.

"We're doing fine…" Ren replied, when he saw one of the jar was open, he trailed back to Nora and gave a sigh. "Nora, please don't eat the sap until we're back at Beacon."

"But, Ren! It's so tasty! I bet it will go well with pancakes!" Nora whined while clutching the front of Ren's shirt, shaking him in the process.

"No, Nora. Assignment is an assignment, I will make you some if you can spare me some jars!" Ren spoke with shaky tone as his partner did not stop throttling him.

Claude wanted to intervene, but the two seemed to be having a good time. Seeing Nora turned gleeful right before pulling her partner into a bone-crushing hug, Claude decided the two were doing fine and chose to leave them alone for the next pair - Jaune Arc and Pyrrha Nikos. Upon approaching, the two seemed…. _Closer_ , although Claude could not help but feel that the 'closing' part was more from Pyrrha's side; he did not know why nor how. Overall, there was no issue about them as they talked, until Jaune sprung up the question.

"Um, Mr. Cole, sir?" Jaune asked nervously. "What about…. Y'know, the test? When are we going to do it today?"

At this point, Claude did not bother to correct Jaune about addressing him. "...You'll know." He replied with an unreadable smile, "Until then, just enjoy yourself while keeping your eyes and ears open." He finished with a wink while patting Jaune's shoulder in friendly manner, before he walked away from the pair. As he walked away, Claude did not see Pyrrha wordlessly placed her hand on Jaune's shoulder in supportive manner.

oXo

The next pairing was Ruby Rose and Weiss Schnee; team RWBY happened to choose an area with uneven footing with rocks, mounds and plantations jutting out from the ground. To be fair, the trees around there appeared to be old and ripe to have their sap extracted, henceforth the team's decision to go there. When Claude reached the site, he found his niece was trekking up a steep path towards a tree, while Weiss was only a few meters away on another tree with her back turned on her.

It was the moment where Ruby's foot had to slip under her, and the girl panically found the ground was coming towards her very fast. She closed her eyes, preparing herself for the impact when she hit the ground, but instead she felt an arm - no, a pair of arms wrapped around her, preventing her from hitting the ground. Ruby blinked and she looked up to see a pair of silver eyes looking at her with concern.

"You okay?" Claude asked, causing Ruby's face to warm up slightly as he helped her back on her feet.

"Oh, um, yeah, I'm okay!" Ruby spluttered for a bit as she refused to keep the eye contact. She then patted herself down before she decided to look for the jar she was carrying earlier as a mean to distract herself, only to find out later that her teacher had picked it up and offered it back to her, much to her embarrassment. She snatched the jar and quickly covered her face with her hood over her head, before she quickly spun around and ran towards another tree, not before she gave the teacher a quick gratitude. "Thanks, Sterling! Gotta go work now!"

Claude only blinked at his niece's behaviour as he watched her go, before he noticed that Weiss was approaching him while glancing at the direction where her partner had gone. "I'm sorry for her behaviour, sir. I hope she didn't give you much trouble."

"Not at all, I just happened to come here to check on you girls." Claude smiled. "So, everything okay here? Need a hand, maybe?"

"I'll admit that this is the first time for me to do something…. Like _this_ before…" Weiss replied with inability to describe what she was doing. "...But I'll manage." She finished with a confident tone.

"Good to hear." Claude nodded before asking again, "How's the team for you so far?"

"Certainly not what I hoped, but they are still acceptable." Weiss replied with a huff and blunt tone. "Yang is brash and unrefined, Blake is rather anti-social, and Ruby is… a child." Claude wanted to reply, but he noticed that Weiss had yet to finish. "But at the same time, so far, Yang has proven herself to be the strongest among four of us, Blake is, while not unexpected, well-read and collected; and Ruby is surprisingly insightful during team-building exercise." Weiss gave a sigh. "...I feel I'm starting to understand why headmaster Ozpin decided to enrol her two years early."

Claude's lips turned into a smile as he nodded in agreement. "That's Ruby for you. So you no longer have problems with your team?"

"As I said, it's not ideal, but I _will_ work things out with them." Weiss replied with a determined smile - it was a good enough answer for Claude.

With another nod, Claude turned to meet Weiss' eyes. "I hope I'm not asking too much, but as you said, Ruby is young. She's gonna need you to look after her, so… yeah. You know what I mean."

Weiss stared at Claude's eyes for a few seconds, as if she was trying to search something, before she finally gave another sigh, "I'm aware of what's coming to me when I accepted her as the team leader." She then offered Claude a smile. "She's learning, and I'll make sure she's not slacking off."

"That'll do." Claude chuckled. "I'll leave you to do your thing, see you around. Don't forget to stay within at least hearing distance." He then walked away from Weiss, who also walked towards Ruby.

Claude threw one last look over his shoulder at Ruby and Weiss - the two were seen talking before the former also glanced at him, before she blushed and quickly covered her red face with her hood, leaving Weiss even more confused. He narrowed his eyes at the odd behaviour, but he shrugged it off soon enough - _perhaps it's a teenage girl thing_. He then proceeded to the last pairing, Blake Belladonna and Yang Xiao Long. The two of them were engaged in a conversation, with the latter did most of the talking while the former ended up listening with occasional sighs and eye-rolls, seemingly managing herself to take whatever her partner verbally threw at her.

"Hey, you two."

The pair looked up from whatever they were doing, and Yang was the first to reply with a small grin, "Hey yourself. What's up?" Blake on the other hand, simply gave him a nod.

"Just checking up on you two girls, see if you two need a hand or anything. I take everything's been going smooth here?"

"Yep, no problem whatsoever. Right, Blakey?" Yang replied without missing a beat before turning to her partner.

The black-clad girl resisted to roll her eyes and chose to huff softly instead, "Yes, we'll manage."

"But speaking of which…." Yang's eyes gained a certain flash as she slowly danced her way towards Claude. "I think I'd like to have a word, after all." Yang said with slightly sultry tone, as her finger trailed around Claude's arm.

Claude merely raised his eyebrows at Yang's advance, before he glanced at Blake, who shrugged with a sheepish, apologetic look on her face. Claude then turned to look at the blonde who was standing rather close to him. She was shorter than him, albeit not by large margin; the girl was looking up towards him with expectant look in her lilac eyes. Assuming that she was thinking of what he believed she was thinking, Claude inwardly smirked - _two can play at that game._

"Is that so?" Claude returned with an easy-going smile, his head tilted slightly as his silver eyes remained locked to Yang's own. "How can I help you, then?" He was able to maintain his tone, as well as his eye-level, but frankly speaking, Claude's mind could not deny that Yang was damn attractive. Even without looking the proximity alone was enough to tell him that she was physically more developed than Raven. It took a lot of him to keep his eyes from trailing lower.

On the other hand, Yang was slightly taken aback - her expression showed as if she was surprised about something, but not in a bad way. Widening her smile slightly as her eyes gave a mischievous glint, she caught the sight of her little sister working with her partner for a second, before she returned her attention to Claude. "Well… I want to talk about Ruby."

That caused Claude to furrow his eyebrows, the sight of Ruby's flustered face came back to his mind. "Something wrong with Ruby?"

Yang blinked at the hint of concern in the man's tone, but she decided to think of it later. "Er, yeah, you see, Ruby is…. 15 now, and… it seems she's starting to get self-conscious around boys."

"That's…. Normal, right? I mean, Ruby's a girl and all…" Claude argued, not really understanding what Yang was talking about.

"It's just that my little sister used to have her interest focused on weapons, y'know? Finding that she suddenly grew interest in boys was hard to ignore." Yang continued.

For some reason, Claude felt that the blonde was getting into something. "Right…. And? Anything I should be aware of?" He found his tone grew a bit worried.

"Ruby might have a crush on someone." Yang sort of whispered audibly towards Claude with an excited grin.

That moment, Claude seemed to freeze when he heard Yang's words for a moment. A crush? - he was not socially inept; he knew that having a crush did not mean that his niece wanted to literally crush someone, Ruby was _interested_ in someone. Suddenly, Yang's mentioning of Ruby's self-consciousness, along with her recent attitude came to mind. Rubbing his fingers on his chin, Claude tried to make sense of things. His niece was hitting puberty, and damn if puberty struck like a thunder; because back in the day, Summer also went through something similar, getting flustered around Tai, Qrow, and the rest of team CBPR all of sudden, making things awkward between them for a while.

But no, it was not the time for Claude to reminisce the past, as there was an urgent matter on his hand, namely his niece had a crush on someone.

"...Sterling?" Claude blinked and realised that Yang and Blake were staring at him. "You okay there? You suddenly froze all of sudden."

Claude quickly shook his head to recollect his wits. "Sorry, my mind get caught up with something. But just to make sure that we're on the same page…." Claude held up a finger while closing his eyes for a second. "You said that Ruby Rose, your leader as well as your younger sister… has a crush on a guy, as in 'interested'?"

Yang and Blake glanced at each other, with the latter gave a subtle shake of her head and a warning look, but the former chose to push through. "Yep, basically."

"Huh…" Claude nodded before he continued, "Welp, as I said, that's fine, I think? Ruby's growing, fifteen years old and all, I guess it's about time she's into boys, don't you think?" Despite what he had said, Claude found himself disliking such idea. Then again, he also knew that he had no right to interfere the girls' lives, considering his stance. In return, Yang and Blake paid attention to the teacher's reply, not commenting anything because they could not fault his argument. However, he suddenly spoke up again before either of them could have said anything else. "Rather, when did this start again?"

Yang and Blake blinked again when they found Claude's expression to be deep in thought. This time, while Claude's attention was still not on them, Blake placed a hand on Yang's shoulder while giving her another shake of her head with more urgency in her amber eyes. However, Yang simply gave an 'it'll be fine' expression while brushing her hand off her shoulder. "Not long, I guess a few days ago?"

"I see…." Yang's expression grew amused while Blake grew more worried at the contemplative look on Claude's face. "We're not talking about the guys from team JNPR, are we?"

Blake blinked at the unexpected response while Yang merely snorted. "What? Pssh, nah. It's not Ren or vomit boy. They're not bad, but I think you would've known if that's the case."

"Hm, point…" Claude nodded while resisting the urge to sigh in relief. He threw a quick glance at the two pairs of team JNPR; if he thought about it again, it was obvious enough that Ren already had his hands full with his partner alone. Jaune was possible, but also out; he knew better than fooling around with other girls when his own enrolment was at stake. "So are you saying this guy is from senior years?"

Yang rolled her eyes before she nodded; not exactly 'senior' as in other students, but close enough.

"Have you met this guy? Any idea about his looks, year, team, or…. Name, maybe?"

At this point, Blake swallowed a small lump while Yang had to restraint herself from showing any signs of mirth on her face. The lucky bastard had no clue - oh, she would milk what it's worth while she could. "Hm…. I didn't get a good look since the guy's back was facing me…" Yang tapped on her chin while sporting an innocent look. "But I can tell that he's rather tall, and helluva strong."

Claude's eyebrows furrowed deeper as he took in Yang's information. Tall, strong-looking…. A fourth, or perhaps a third-year? - However, before Claude could have asked more, Blake suddenly interrupted between them.

"Okay! I think we're getting side-tracked far enough today." The girl's face spoke as if she wanted to go somewhere else. "Sorry for cutting this short, sir. But I believe we still have a task to be completed?"

Claude blinked a couple of times before he let out a breath, conceding with Blake's point. "Ah… Right, I'll leave you two to it, then." Claude smiled one more time before he walked away. "Thanks for the talk, girls!"

oXo

When the teacher was out of hearing distance, Blake quickly pulled Yang and whispered harshly to her ear. "Yang, what were you thinking?!"

Yang in return, simply shrugged off Blake's scolding. "Hey, come now, Blakey. What's gotten into you? It's just a prank, at worst."

Blake wanted to say more, but she could not. In the end, she only sighed while massaging her temple. "You're really having fun with this, aren't you?"

"Yep. But seriously, what's wrong with you? You're acting as if…. I don't know, I'm tearing the two apart or something."

At Yang's question, Blake let out another breath while shaking her head. "It's nothing, Yang. Playing around people's relationship like this is not really my idea of fun. Just… stop fanning the flames more than necessary."

Yang huffed and threw her hands behind her head. "Fine…. Sheesh, just relax, Blake. I'm planning to stop here, anyway. What's the worst can happen?"

* * *

Claude was deep in thought as he made another round. More jars had been filled, no grimm in sight, everything was going well. However, when he saw Ruby, Yang's words came back; he stared at the girl who was happily chatting with her partner. No matter how many times he saw her, Ruby was truly the splitting image of Summer. His little sister was also around her age when she began to see boys as members of opposite gender. Hell, even their reactions were similar.

However, he growled under his breath as he immediately ruffled his own hair in frustration, dispelling those thoughts; he had no right to interfere with their lives, especially after he had taken the alias and everything, that was basically him choosing to become strangers to those girls. Besides, worrying about the girls mingling with boys was Tai's job, or maybe Qrow, but not him. Then again, he was considering to come clean to them later, as well as the fact that he was still Ruby's uncle, thus he felt an obligation to see if whoever the guy Ruby looking into was at least a decent one.

Looking up, he realised that the sun was already far from its high point. He quickly shook his head to dispel his earlier thoughts and checked on his scroll - it was nearly time to wrap up, as well as to put his plan into motion. He smirked and walked towards Glynda, who had also noticed the time on her tablet, and whispered something to her. She gave a nod, and after checking that he had his sword and all, Claude turned towards Jaune and Pyrrha.

"Jaune, Pyrrha." The two looked up from their job to see their instructor approaching them casually. "We're about to wrap this up, so prepare the jars. Oh, one more thing, Pyrrha." The girl paused at him. "Ms. Goodwitch needs to speak with you. Grab what you can and go to her pronto." When she gave a slight worried look at his partner, Claude walked over and put his hand on the younger man's shoulder. "I'll be with him. Now, go. I think Goodwitch is grumpy…. Which I suppose she's always been." He ended with a shrug, causing Jaune and Pyrrha to smile wryly, before she shared a nod with her partner and took off.

Then, Claude turned to Jaune, revealing one last empty jar in his hand. "I know we are wrapping up, but let's fill one last jar, shall we? Follow me." He jerked his hand towards a direction.

Jaune blinked at Claude's back, feeling something was off. He looked back towards the others, towards Pyrrha who was seemingly talking with Goodwitch. Taking a quick breath, Jaune turned around and ran to catch up with the teacher. The trek did not take too long; both of them found themselves in another clearing and began to look for a ripe tree.

"Um… Mr. Cole, sir?" Jaune threw a glance at Claude as he checked out the trees. "Is… y'know, my test going to take place tonight?"

"Again, Jaune…. Sterling is fine." Claude called out as he tapped at one tree, hinting that it was ripe. Jaune gave a short nervous giggle as he came over and began extracting the sap, while Claude crouched next to him. "As for your question earlier, I told you; you'll find out. But humour me, how are things going for you now?"

Jaune paused, his eyes glazed over the jar that was being steadily filled with the red sap. "I…" He began to speak, but he suddenly closed his mouth and eyes, his expression was deep in thought for his next words. "...I've been a complete idiot…. And still am."

Claude's eyes widened at the first line coming out from Jaune's mouth - _that was completely unexpected._ However, he chose to remain silent to let Jaune continuing whatever he had to say for himself. "I think I understand why my parents expected me to fail… The lack of faith still hurts, but I can see their reasoning."

When Jaune did not speak for another few seconds, Claude chose to butt in. "So, what's your plan?"

"I still want to be a huntsman." Jaune replied with his blue eyes meeting his silver ones.

"Even after everything you've done?"

"It's because of everything I've done to this point that I cannot stop." Jaune replied and he looked away, as if staring at whatever was in front of him, his lips grew into a smile. "Ren, Nora, Pyrrha…. It's all thanks to them that I can go on. Even when I felt myself at the rock bottom, they still didn't give up on me. And since I've been chosen as their leader…" Jaune then turned to Claude with his smile widened. "...I can't fail them now, can I?"

Claude kept his eyes at Jaune's expression, the corners of his own lips quirked upwards ever so slightly. "You know if you couldn't hold the end of our bargain, you still have to leave Beacon, don't you?"

"Yeah…. Yeah, I know." Jaune's face turned nervous for a second, before he turned his gaze into a determined glare. "But I still won't give up. I'll just train, even if it kills me, no matter how long it takes, as long as I can walk alongside my friends…. I'll figure something out. So… yeah." Jaune then gave a defiant grin. "Whatever test you have for me, bring it on. I'm ready."

This time, Claude smiled pleasantly. "...Well said, Mr. Arc."

It was thanks to the hard work implemented on his person, that Jaune was able to sense the danger when Claude suddenly moved from his crouching position. Having no time to deploy his Crocea Mors, Jaune used his armoured arms to guard himself and felt a blunt force collided with his arms, sending him away rolling to the middle of the clearing. He quickly stood up, brandished his sword and shield and saw the teacher was walking towards him with his sword drawn.

"Hm… Nice reaction. Now that's an improvement."

"So is this how I find out about the test?" Jaune asked with narrowed eyes, his body quickly assumed the stance that Pyrrha had hammered into his being.

"Yeah, pretty much." Claude replied with a cheshire smile. "Show me what you got, Mr. Arc. The test will go on until I say so." He said before he quickly lunged at him.

oXo

Pyrrha, Nora and Ren were running through the red foliages of Forever Fall, following the distant sounds of battle. Pyrrha realised what was going on when she could not find Jaune or Sterling within her sight, and one glance from Professor Goodwitch was enough to make her calling out for the rest of her team to search for their leader.

Behind the three members of JNPR, team RWBY were also hot on their trails, running after them out of curiosity, with Glynda Goodwitch also followed not far on their tail. The deputy's expression was the mix of impatience and resignation - _I'm not paid enough for this crap_.

They eventually arrived at the clearing where the duel was being held; Jaune was on defensive with his Crocea Mors against Claude's onslaught, and it was clear enough that the younger man was barely holding his ground. Jaune roared and swung his sword in retaliation, only for Claude to quickly manoeuvred himself around the attack and slammed the sole of his boot against Jaune's shield, sending the teen to skid back with his feet remaining on the ground.

Jaune let go his breath, not knowing how long he had been holding it in during his bout with the older man, but he knew better than lowering his guard while the battle was not over. He also noticed that the fight had gained spectators, his team, RWBY and Glynda Goodwitch were standing on the edge of clearing behind him.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha shouted his name in worry. She, along with Ren and Nora were about to deploy their weapons and jump to his aid, but they were stopped by a riding crop blocking their way.

"You three will not interfere." Glynda spoke with a tone that demanded no argument, before she also turned her gaze to the confused-looking team RWBY. "The same also goes for you four."

"But-!"

"It's okay!"

Pyrrha's retort was cut-off, and the others turned to see Jaune was looking at them over his shoulder. "This is my fight, alone. Leave this to me."

Seeing the determined look on Jaune's eyes before he returned to set his attention on his opponent, Pyrrha bit her lower lip and reluctantly lowered her weapon. Ren and Nora also did the same with similar expression.

"What is going on?" Ruby could not help but ask, confused out of her mind. However, when Glynda and team (J)NPR only watched the match without a word, the young girl could only watch with her team at the unfolding duel before them.

oXo

Back to the match, Claude was twirling his sword casually, his eyes were zoned at Jaune's form and posture. "Hm… Your defence has become more solid, and you chose to play it safe and defensively in the face of stronger opponent…. Not bad." He said with an approving smile and a nod.

Jaune did not say anything in return, but he would be lying if he said he was not flattered inside. Tightening his grip on his sword and shield, Jaune braced himself when Claude dashed on him once again. _Focus, focus, focus! Don't hesitate!_ \- Jaune's mind raced as he did his damnest to weather every strike. The training driven by his teammates had paid well, as Jaune would parry, evade, counter and last just as Pyrrha, Ren and Nora had beaten into his body.

As his arms began to strain from the pressure of Claude's attacks, Jaune also knew that fundamentals would not help him forever. Sparring matches with Pyrrha had taught Jaune to improvise every now and then… Although he still did not know of what to do when the situation called for it. However, on the field he was on, Jaune somehow came up with an idea; not a very good one, but still something. He leapt and rolled to the side to avoid Claude aiming for his legs, and after a brief face-off, Jaune immediately made the run towards the trees on the side.

Claude blinked for a second, did not expect the teen to run away. He thought of Jaune surrendering for a second, but Claude also noticed that there was still fire in Jaune's blue eyes before he moved. Smirking slightly, Claude chose to give chase.

Despite being confused, the rest of spectators also ran towards the direction where Claude and Jaune had disappeared into. The landscape started to go uphill, steep ground with some rocks and roots jutting out from the ground. "What are they thinking going this way?!" Weiss huffed, feeling irritated of the uneven footing as she ran. Nobody bothered to replied Weiss in favour of focusing to find Jaune or Claude among the trees around them. Of course, Glynda had no difficulty trailing behind them, as her senses immediately picked up the sound of battles.

"Over there!" Ruby pointed at the sight of the fight; Jaune found himself under the mercy of Claude's strike once again. This time, Jaune utilised evasive moves every now and then instead of simply parried and blocked, keeping the older man from being too close while kept climbing up the steep slope of earth.

Claude sent several slashes and high thrusts, and Jaune dodged before he slammed his blade towards Claude's head or shoulders. In retaliation, Claude aimed to swipe Jaune's legs under him, but the younger man lifted his foot at the last second and stomped the flat of the blade against a rock. Seeing his sword was trapped, Claude tugged a few times before he sent another smirk. "Yes, use the terrain wisely and keep yourself on the higher ground!" He commended before he mustered more of his strength to push his sword upward, throwing Jaune off in the process.

The young man grunted as he barely kept himself from falling down, before he proceeded to run again. He ran again, not sure anymore of his direction as he brushed against a branch from an overgrown tree. His eyes lit up with another idea, before Jaune chose to descend into the more covered area.

Following suit into the trees, the cat and mouse game between Claude and Jaune escalated when the latter grabbed a long branch, brought it along with him until he suddenly let go, causing the wooden foliage to swing back towards the incoming teacher at high speed. Alas, Claude easily cut the offending wood away with a swing of his sword.

However, instead of irritated, Claude's expression became more elated. "Hahaha, YES!" Claude commented with a grin across his face. "Your surroundings are pretty much at your disposal! Make them fight for you!" He quickly brought his sword up to intercept Jaune's ambush from the other side of a tree.

Pulling another tactical retreat, Jaune's breathing began to sound laboured when he looked up; something he saw gave him an idea, _a crazy one_ , perhaps. Climbing up a tree, Jaune's adrenalin rush allowed him to quickly use his sword to cut a nest of rapier wasp and threw it towards Claude. At the sight of a nest of dangerous insect hurling towards him, Claude's grin turned feral as he activated his Semblance; coating his entire body with a high-voltage electricity, he easily fried every single wasp that was unfortunate enough to come into contact with him.

More minutes had past, as it became more difficult for everyone else to keep track of the fight. Luckily, they immediately heard the voice of Jaune's scream as they quickly gave pursuit, arriving at another clearing - they were not sure if it was the same clearing from earlier, to see Jaune skid down to avoid his head being almost decapitated by Claude's blade.

The feeling of nearly losing his head caused Jaune to stumble on the ground. In order to regain his balance, Jaune stabbed his sword to the ground as a makeshift crutch, manoeuvring himself so his back was no longer upon the opponent, and in the process, the sword which he roughly pulled from the ground ended up throwing a good amount of mud and dirt towards Claude, whom happened to chase him. The young teacher stopped abruptly when he found his vision was covered in a thick earth. It would take too long if he tried to clean the dirt away with bare hands - dust in eyes was not easy to wash off.

However, the amused tone never vanished from Claude's voice as he regain his stance. "Fighting dirty…. Can't say I disapprove." He said with a small chuckle.

The spectators did not dare to let out any noise. Team RWBY still had no idea of what has transpired, with Glynda watching with keen eyes. Team JNPR, Pyrrha in particular, gained a semblance of hope in their eyes. Sterling had lost visual, and Jaune finally had a clear advantage. The redhead did not fully approve of the tactic Jaune pulled on the last second, but at this point, she simply wanted to see her partner win - succeeding.

Jaune himself quickly regained his breath and calmed himself; his skin was laced with sweat, silently swallowing a lump at the still form of his opponent. He was exhausted and obviously outmatched; the tactic he pulled earlier was purely dumb luck. Then again, such an opportunity would not come again if he passed this. Inwardly, Jaune could not help but feel grateful, despite his aching body. Sterling certainly did not go all out - he was actually giving him a chance to show what he had learned, an opportunity to prove himself, otherwise the fight would have ended a long time ago.

Hell, Jaune even knew that his training with his friends, as well as robbing his opponent his vision would not be nearly enough to grant him victory; still, he had to try. Carefully took a side step and another, Jaune's eyes remained focusing on Claude as he attempted to circle him. The atmosphere was tense, as everyone knew that the fight was nearing an end.

Claude himself remained rooted on his position, his head would twitch at the slightest noise in the air, his remaining senses were on high alert of his immediate surrounding, waiting for any signal that could give Jaune's position away.

It took a good minute when something finally happened. As if the hands of fate itself interfering, everyone sans Glynda gasped when Jaune froze at the soft, yet distinct sound of a dry leave being crushed under Jaune's shoes. He quickly put up his shield and took a defensive position at the same time Claude's head snapped at his direction. Alas, the older man had no intention to prolong the match any further.

Much to everyone's surprise, Claude cocked his arm back and tossed his sword towards Jaune. The teen yelped at the sight of sword spinning towards him and swung his shield to bash the offending weapon away from him. However, Jaune realised his blunder when he suddenly found his opponent right in front of him, already closing the distance between them.

Jaune was wide open at the moment he knocked the sword away, allowing Claude to sneak into his guard and landed a barrage of punches on Jaune's torso, which ended with a well-placed strike on his throat, before he quickly jumped over and landed behind him.

In the midst of disorientation and suffocation after receiving the beating on his person, Jaune felt a pair of strong arms wrapped around his waist and stomach before he found his vision turning upside down, followed by the feeling of his head being slammed onto the ground _hard._ His vision swam from sheer pain on his head down, and the last thing he heard before everything went black was the voice of his friends crying out his name.

* * *

Jaune slowly blinked open his eyes, and white was the first thing that registered in his brain. When he blinked a couple more times to gain more clarity, he learned that he was staring at a white ceiling. He slowly woke up, groaning as he rubbed his head for the sudden headache, before he recalled what had happened. He closed his eyes when he felt tears began to well - he had lost, and presumably, failed the test he and Sterling had agreed upon; which meant he could no longer stay at Beacon.

"Good evening, Mr. Arc."

Jaune snapped his head towards the sudden voice, his tears were forgotten in surprise. He saw Ozpin, Glynda and Sterling were sitting around his bed, with the latter's seat facing the other way around, allowing him to lean forward; which he finally learned that he was inside an infirmary. He looked between the three faculties for a few seconds before he took a breath to calm himself. Still, even after he had calmed down, the sense of shame and failure did not leave him as Jaune looked down at his blanket-covered lower-half.

"...Mr. Arc."

When Ozpin addressed him once again, Jaune closed his eyes and spoke with hoarse voice. "I'm no longer a student of Beacon, am I?"

The trio on Jaune's bedside noticed Jaune was grasping his bed-sheet with his hands hard enough that his fists were shaking. Nonetheless, Ozpin simply took a breath before his lips quirked up into a small smile. "On the contrary, I did not have any reason to say what you just concluded."

Jaune blinked and looked at the three teachers, his confused eyes were still glistening with unshed tears, which prompted Ozpin to continue. "Allow me to start with this, Mr. Arc; your fake transcript…. was not really convincing in the first place."

Jaune did not notice the small twitch on Glynda's eyes, as well as Sterling biting down his own lips to keep himself from laughing. "Nevertheless, I will go straight to the point of the matter. In the light of your case, one of the teachers gave me a proposal… A compromise, to be precise, regarding your enrolment." Ozpin continued while gesturing his hand towards the young teacher. Jaune turned to see the said teacher gave him a knowing smile and a hand-wave.

"The Beacon Academy may receive a student through either a formal enrolment test or recommendation from a certified huntsman." Glynda Goodwitch picked up from where Ozpin left off. "Long-story short, Mr. Cole here offered to be your guarantor, ensuring that you can study to be a huntsman."

Jaune's eyes widened in hope and darted between Claude, Glynda and Ozpin - the former and the latter gave a knowing nod. "You and Mr. Cole can discuss the rest of the details, while Glynda and I will take care of your paperwork. Have a good evening, Mr. Arc." Ozpin stood up along with Glynda, and before they walked out the door, Ozpin sent one more glance at Jaune. "...Congratulations and once again, welcome to Beacon."

As soon as the door was shut, Jaune let out a long breath of relief. He then turned to look at Claude with tears welling in his eyes. "S-Sterling, sir, I…"

"Easy, Jaune-boy. Relax…" Claude waved off with an easy smile.

Jaune took another quick breath before speaking again. "I… It's just… Are you sure? I mean, I'm really, really grateful for what you did, but-!"

Claude only rolled his eyes with his right hand up. "Yeah, yeah, you've convinced me and I'm sure of what I've done about you. But seriously, let's just move on to the next step of arrangement, capische?"

Jaune nodded and Claude began, "Going into details will take forever, so I'll cut straight to the case. The bottom-line is, that I've taken you as my apprentice in order to convince Ozpin and Glynda that you have what it takes to become a huntsman. However, considering you have zero experience prior Beacon Academy, they will expect some results by the end of the year… So." Claude straightened up. "In addition of your normal classes, I'm going to drill you into several private training regimes, made by me, so you can become, as I said in your first combat class, 'an incredible, unbelievable, _fearsome_ fighting machine'." When Jaune blinked and took in what he said, Claude leaned forward with a small grin, his silver eyes were honing into Jaune's blue orbs. "...Can you take it?"

Jaune hardened his expression at the opportunity he could not refuse; it was far better than being expelled. "I'm looking forward to it, sir." He replied with a confident smile. "When do we start?"

"You'll find out…. Properly, this time. For now, just do what you've been doing, and…." Claude then stood up and walked towards the door. "Spend some quality time with your team." He then slid the door open…

"JAUNE!"

"JAUNEY!"

"Ooph!" Jaune immediately felt he was knocked back further into the bed, with several arms wrapping around him tightly. He looked down to see Pyrrha burying her face on his shoulder, while Nora was clinging on his stomach. Both girls were seemingly crying, as Jaune could feel the clothes on his shoulder getting wet from tears. He smiled and returned the hug warmly, his own tears finally fell down, before he looked up to see Ren standing calmly next to his bed, smiling at him.

Claude's eyes then met Jaune's once more; the man gave one last wink before he also walked out of the door, giving team JNPR a time for themselves.

oXo

The night had fallen on Beacon, and Claude was walking in the large hallway of the academy. His feet kept carrying him while his mind was somewhere else; more things had happened, and his workload had increased - between his job as an instructor, tracking down Roman, the case with Summer…. And he also had an apprentice to look after. Speaking of the latter, Ozpin had messaged him something that led to his biggest predicament.

While Beacon had no problems of keeping Jaune Arc as a student, the papers could not be finalised and filed into the kingdom's databanks as long as Claude used a pseudonym. Not that they could not, but Ozpin preferred not to make too many false records if he could help it; which meant Claude had to use his real identity, which he had to divulge to his nieces at some point in future.

He stopped when he realised that his feet had brought him to one of the courtyards, where he found a bench under a tree to sit on. Looking up at the shattered moon from his seating position, Claude heaved a sigh as he took out his scroll, put on his earphones and replayed the video footages Summer had recorded for him. As he watched at the recorded memories, his lips grew into a small smile as his mind gradually relaxed in acceptance.

After he had finished watching the videos a while later, he remained seated while looking up at the shattered moon once again, enjoying the night air in the process. "I guess I cannot leave things as they are forever…. Isn't that right, Summer?" He muttered as his small smile remained on his face.

* * *

 **Welp, I gotta say, the whole thing was quite a pain to write, but... Yeah, I did it. Thanks again to Starlight Poet for the input and beta-reading. See y'all later on the next update!**

* * *

 **Bonus Omake**

Silver eyes fluttered open, and Claude was greeted by the sight of sunlight covered with a mass of red leaves. He blinked from his sleeping position, and he found something else at the corner of his sight.

A long black hair with a red and white bandanna, adorning a beautiful face with pale skin and a pair of blood-red eyes, staring at him. The owner of those features had her hand, which was covered in a black fingerless glove, hovering above his forehead. Seeing the woman above him, Claude gave a coy smile. "What are you up to, Rae?"

'Rae', or Raven merely scoffed softly and retracted her hand, narrowing her eyes lightly at the man laying on her laps, much to her small chagrin. "Nothing, just about to mess around your face." She said with an almost imperceptible blush on her face.

Claude could not help but chuckle in return - _that's so classic her_. "How long have I been asleep?"

"Long enough that my legs started to sleep as well." The woman replied, although there was not any bite in her tone. "...So are you going to get up or what?"

"Hmm…. Nope." Claude replied with a cheeky grin and adjusted his head's position on the woman's lap. "I want to stay like this a bit longer." In return, the woman sighed, yet she did not say or do any attempt of removing him. Instead, she ran her hand softly through his hair.

Claude blinked at the ministration, immediately enjoying the soft, yet strong hand caressing his locks. He raised his hand up, caressing the woman's cheek, which prompted her blush to deepen. Her hand which was on his hair grabbed a fistful of locks before she yanked it around a bit out of agitation. The notion caused Claude to giggle more since it did not hurt much. In fact, he found it cute.

"...Where's everyone?" Claude asked after he had enough of feeling her skin.

"On the way back, I suppose…. Except her." Raven jerked her head, pointing Claude at the back of a figure sitting on the grass of Forever Fall, not far from them. The figure was a clearly a woman, with most of her body covered in a white cloak.

Claude smiled softly at his younger sister, before he returned his attention to Raven, only to find her gone all of sudden. He widened his eyes when he also realised that his head was laying on the ground. He quickly woke up, looking around to see any sign of the girl anywhere.

"...Claude."

He snapped his head towards Summer, who was still sitting on her spot. Then, when she slowly turned around to face him, Claude's eyes widened in horror at the sight of blood dripping down from her head. "You have to wake up."

Claude then woke up just like that; jumping on his feet and aimed the new gun Peter had given him towards the source of bloodlust he felt earlier. "...Bitch." He cursed under his breath.


	16. Of Runaways and Reunion (I)

**RWBY: The Redeemer**

* * *

 **I have to say, people. Workforce is quite a bitch when you're a grown up. Expect some delays in other updates as well. I'm sorry for the inconvenience.**

* * *

 **Beta-read by Starlight's Poet**

 **Chapter 15: Of Runaways and Reunion (I)**

The shattered moon shone through the dark night on Remnant, its light pierced through a window of a certain building within the Kingdom of Vale, illuminating a sizeable room where a man was facing a map on the wall, with a desk laid before him. Roman Torchwick took another look at the map of Vale, confirming the key points and hotspots that he needed to look out for. Then, he walked over to take a peek through the door, making sure that the manpower he had requested were on stand-by and ready to be deployed at any moment.

He grimaced slightly at the sight of men and women sitting, standing and talking among themselves; garbed in white uniforms with black hoodies, with grimm-like masks covering their faces - some of those people were also sporting tails and horns sticking out from their clothes.

Another thing to add on his list of 'Top Shittiest Moments' - he was supposed to be a master-thief extraordinaire, the top dog of criminal underworld; yet he had stooped low enough to become another grunt working for a spit-fire of a woman and her two stooges. After having his latest heist being ruined by Rose's little girl, Roman had lost a good amount of Junior's - his frequent contact - trust, and had to resort to work with a bunch of radical hypocrites, whom were supposed to shout words about equality, yet they had become nothing different than he was; so once again, _hypocrites_ , all of them, and they had the gall to trash-talk about him and his… associates.

Then again, things that had happened to him were ironically enough, one of the many risks that came along with the profession Roman had chosen to take - _one doesn't simply become a criminal without having to deal with some nasties_ ; not to mention, he had many things on stake, or to be precise, on the palm of _that woman's_ fiery palm, which he'd rather keep intact if he could help it.

Lighting up his favourite cigar, Roman took a long drag to calm his own nerves, before puffing out a cloud of smoke. Losing his cool was a painful lesson he had once learned during the early days of his career. However, the taste of tobacco filling his lungs and brain did not really help much, when there was actually one more thing that has been bugging the crap out of him.

He trailed his gaze onto the desk, where a small piece of paper laid on it. During his last conversation with Junior to 'apologize' for losing his subordinates to the Vale police, the gang boss apparently had a message directed to him.

When Roman asked about who it came from, Junior only smirked and claimed to have sworn to secrecy, but Roman had a feeling that it was a bullshit out of spite towards him. Still, what really caught his mind was the message content.

 _Rome~_

His eyes narrowed again at the sole word written on the paper. Throughout his life, there was only one - no, _two_ people who addressed him with that nickname. It might be…. No; although he would ask Neo just in case, she would have just met him in person or send the message directly to his scroll, if she had anything to tell him. On the other hand, the handwriting style that was able to infuriate him just by looking…. Roman only had one more person in mind…. Which was _impossible_ \- Roman thought as he took another drag of his cigar and breathed out the smoke more harshly out of frustration. Then again, he recalled, _nobody_ had discovered or confirmed the body - the memory only added more baggage to his already tired mind.

Slamming the cigar on the desk, Roman growled as he took off his bowler hat to massage an incoming migraine.

 _Fuck my life..._

oXo

"...Come again?"

"I beg your pardon?"

It was late at night when Ozpin summoned Claude to his office with Glynda, to give him what he deemed as a 'job opportunity'.

"Hm?" Ozpin kept his ever-present calm smile at Claude's slightly bewildered expression, before he gave a brief glance at his deputy, who was looking at him as if he had grown an extra head. Nonetheless, his expression did not change as if everything was normal. "As I said, I intend to appoint Claude Rose officially as a teacher; or to be precise, as a co-instructor of combat class with Glynda, as well as a student counsellor, by the time of second semester begins."

However, before Claude could have replied with anything, Glynda suddenly raised her hand, "One moment, headmaster." She interrupted with twitching eyebrow; she then took a breath to recollect herself and choose her next phrases. "While I won't deny Mr. Rose's ability to guide students in the arts of combat…. I have to question if he is qualified to offer… _counselling_." She said with a quick glance at her younger colleague.

Claude only pouted; while he could understand Glynda's concern, that was just rude. He had experiences of sharing advice to people; his team for example, and occasionally his sister and the rest of team STRQ.

"I understand your concerns, Glynda." Ozpin nodded after taking a sip from his usual mug. "But I have considered the position of a student counsellor. Someone who is more approachable by the students whenever they need help or support." He then turned his gaze back to Claude. "Someone who is more approachable than myself, Peter, Oobleck, Peach and _you_." He glanced at Glynda, who was sporting a thoughtful look.

"I guess I- _we_ see your point." Claude corrected himself as he glanced at Glynda, who sighed and nodded in agreement. "After all, my age is the closest with the students compared to the rest of the faculty…. However." Claude raised a finger. "As Glynda implied earlier, I'm not qualified in counselling. Hell, I technically am not even qualified to teach in the first place! Seriously, isn't there anyone else other than me?" He raised both hands to emphasize his words.

"I'm afraid nobody else is." Ozpin replied. "Besides, I believe on the other day, you've done a fine job in counselling Ms. Rose about leadership."

"Err, don't you think it might be because she's my niece, a fifteen year-old girl who had yet to adapt in a new environment filled with nothing but strangers older than her?" Claude argued back.

"...And there's the recent case of Mr. Arc. You did quite marvelously to solve the issue." Ozpin carried on, as if ignoring Claude's earlier retort.

In return, Claude also retorted, "Bah, it's just getting sad to see the kid kept fumbling and being left behind…. In fact, I'm pretty sure that doesn't have anything to do with counselling. I basically just threatened, possibly even blackmailed him to improve himself."

"Believe me when I said there are numerous cases where a teacher resorted to negative reinforcements to aid the students. Sometimes what people need is a motivation and push in the right direction." Ozpin returned without missing a beat. "...And I'm pretty sure that it's not a blackmail when you'd have still taken him as your apprentice, even if Mr. Arc were to fail your trial at Forever Fall." Ozpin then stood up, resting his hands on his back and he met Claude's eyes with his own. "In the end, my point remains that I have an absolute faith that you are the most suitable man for the position. Thus, I shall ask, will you take it?"

A part of Claude was not really into the idea. He already had his hands full with the first-years, especially JNPR, considering the team leader was his direct responsibility. If he were to become a counsellor, that meant he had more responsibilities towards not just the first-years, but _all_ students in the academy. He glanced up to see Glynda waiting for his reply with raised eyebrows, while Ozpin simply kept his gaze while sipping the content of his mug. Claude could have kept refusing, and Ozpin would have just come up with more excuses to convince him, probably more confusing ones than before.

Seeing that there was no winning for him if he did not want the argument to last until morning, Claude sighed as he ran his hand through his locks. "...Fine, I'll do it."

"Excellent." Ozpin smiled - a smile that was a tad too wide than he's supposedly to, before he sat back down. "Glynda, would you escort Mr. Rose back, and feel free to take an early leave tonight, I shall deal with the rest of paperwork myself."

Knowing that the headmaster was in a better mood, as well as feeling exasperated than she would like, Glynda complied as she and Claude walked towards the elevator and began their descent.

As the trip was rather slow, Claude sighed and decided to strike a conversation. "...What a night, eh?" He glanced at Glynda with a half-smile.

Apparently, Glynda chose to humor him in return. "Yes, it is." She said with her own sigh, before she glanced back at Claude. "...I can't believe I say this, but as a matter of fact, I think Ozpin was right to point you as a student counsellor. You just have this… capability of reaching out towards students, when the rest of us couldn't." She spoke as if she swallowed something sour, before she took a breath. "It's infuriating to admit, but we do need someone who has no qualms to skirt around the rules."

Claude paused and stared at Glynda, blinking a couple of times to make sure that he was not hallucinating. "I'm…. flattered…?" His response ended up sounding like a question. Nonetheless, he pushed through. "Thank you. Sorry, it's kind of surprising coming from you."

"I admit we've been polar opposite for many occasions…" Glynda replied while fixing the glasses on her face. "But despite your unorthodox ways of dealing with issues, as long as they're within reason and can achieve the desirable results, I will acknowledge them." She then let out a small smile on her face. "Speaking of which, I haven't said this myself, but you did well on solving Mr. Arc's case; and speaking of him, I'm honestly impressed at how well he has improved during his match against you. It makes me curious to see how far he will go now, considering he has been placed under your wing."

"Again, thanks, Glynda. That actually means a lot coming from you." Claude replied with a more genuine smile.

The descent in the elevator was spent on more comfortable atmosphere, a few minutes later, Glynda was the one who spoke first. "I heard about your last conversation with Peter..." She began giving side-way look at Claude. "I believe you've made the right choice about your plan about your nieces." She said with supportive tone.

Claude only replied with a hum, as his eyes were gazing at the elevator floor. Noticing the melancholic look on the young man's face, Glynda opted to change the subject. "Any luck with Roman?"

Claude gave another sigh, but his expression became a bit better. "Nothing yet, still…." He said with pursed lips. "You and I both know how good Roman is at what he does."

Glynda also sighed in return, conceding with Claude's point. She turned on her tablet that she always carried with her, and opened Roman's file - the _only_ copy in her possession. The elevator finally stopped with a bell; Glynda and Claude then walked out towards the yard in front of Beacon Tower, with the former still frowning at the screen on her gadget as she kept walking with Claude. "To this day, I still cannot fathom how your old partner was able to keep erasing an entire records related to him for more than the last 20 years, not only from Vale's database, but the other kingdoms as well… Even Atlas." She said with a hint of frustration in her tone.

True to her words - in layman's terms, thanks to what Roman had done to his records in the kingdoms' databases and systems, a good portion of the public had no recognition or knowledge of Roman's origin, team CBPR, and possibly the close associate STRQ as well. For them, Roman Torchwick was akin to a ghost that suddenly appeared from thin air and began robbing numerous establishments throughout Remnant. Not to mention, the past attempts to restore his data into the system were rendered null within a few days - whether it was from hacking, or another conspiracy, it was anyone's guess.

"I know the feeling." Claude nodded solemnly before taking a deep breath. "But 'how' is no longer mattered. Looking to answer the 'how' at this point would only lead us to a wild goose chase across Remnant, as well as providing a diversion Rome could exploit. Our best bet is to react quickly when he shows up, and captured him upfront."

"Honestly, the latter part of your deduction sounds idiotic." Glynda replied with an eyeroll. "...But it's something only you can make it work."

"...Yeah." Claude said with a tone of resignation, before he stopped to realise that he and Glynda had arrived at the intersection between the student and staff building - it was the time for them to part ways for the night, since Claude's room was in the same building as the students.

"Claude." Glynda said as she put her hand on Claude's shoulder; the man turned to find the woman was smiling lightly at him. "I know you can pull through, all of us do." She gave the shoulder a supportive squeeze before she let go and walked away. "Have a good night, Claude."

Claude stared at Glynda's retreating back for a moment before he smiled and walked to the opposite direction without another word - it was strange, yet refreshing feeling to see the soft side of Glynda Goodwitch, something that she did not often show to others.

However, Claude suddenly heard the deputy calling out to him. "Oh, one more thing, Claude." He stopped to see Glynda in a distance. "Between you, Roman, and your family, I strongly suggest that you set everything straight before we could go too far into the second semester, preferably at the beginning period. Goodnight!"

Claude blinked at the sight of Glynda disappearing into the building, before he silently groaned and rubbed his face in exasperation. Glynda had a point - prolonging the time when he had to open up to his nieces would only make things more difficult in the future, but he'd prefer to get to Roman first beforehand… Which meant he had to work hard and fast.

 _Fuck my life..._

* * *

More weeks had passed on Beacon Academy, and after the fiasco regarding one Jaune Arc, team RWBY finally had learned of the latest status of things, particularly about the story behind his enrolment.

Team RWBY had varied reactions; the leader was simply ecstatic that Jaune would stay at Beacon, not caring about the fake transcript. Blake simply shrugged off the whole affair, since snooping around people's business was never her habit. Yang also shared the sentiment, albeit more good-naturedly, along with some teasing and jabs - in fact, she found Jaune's decision to cheat his way into a huntsman academy without aura or prior combat training, was very bold and, she daresay, a little badass.

Weiss on the other hand, was a bit on the fence, giving Jaune a disapproving glare upon the revelation. Then again, she would not question the final decision given by the teachers; if they deemed Arc was qualified to study in Beacon, she would give a benefit of the doubt for the time being. Besides, during the battle in Forever Fall, Weiss could not deny that Jaune had shown a significant improvement compared to his first combat class assessment.

Which brought another topic regarding Jaune's situation…...

oXo

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The sounds of gunfire echoed in one of Beacon Academy's shooting ranges. From the shooter's booth, Ruby was holding a revolver that was a tad too big for her hands. Behind her, Claude was observing for a moment before he came to her side and pressed a switch on the wall. The faint sound of machine was heard as the hanging target was automatically brought back towards the pair. Claude took off the paper target and showed the result of Ruby's firing.

The bullets were a bit scattered, hitting the right shoulder, left chest and lower left abdomen of the man-size sketch. Ruby pouted a bit at her result as she massaged her aching wrists.

"Sheesh, your new gun packs a punch!" Ruby commented without bitterness in her tone despite the strain on her limbs.

"Well, you're not doing too bad yourself. In fact, you handled the recoil better than I thought." Claude replied with a small smile.

"My Crescent Rose is a high-impact sniper rifle, remember?" Ruby looked back at her teacher. "It's just the size has been adjusted for my hands so I can withstand the recoil."

"Hm, true." Claude nodded before he put up his hand and Ruby wordlessly returned the gun. Per their promise at Forever Fall, Claude and Ruby had been discussing and testing the former's new weapon, which had yet been named.

"Still, what's the name for this child, then?" Ruby put up a thoughtful expression with her fingers rubbing her chin.

"Do we really have to?" Claude raised an eyebrow. "Customisation aside, this kind of weapon is something you can find everywhere."

"It's exactly because this is a customised weapon that it needs a name! Our weapons are huntsmen and huntresses' extension! A part of themselves! You're about to carry this gun around with you, of course it needs a name!" Ruby retorted quite heatedly.

"Okay, okay. I get it." Claude raised up his hands to placate the girl. "Since you're the one who wants to name it, what do you suggest?"

Ruby hummed and thought hard for a few seconds. "Err… It's your weapon, I think it's only proper for you to come up with something first."

Claude opened his mouth and pointed out his own finger to retort, but he ended up pausing himself for a few seconds first. "Fair enough; let's see… Stormbreaker?"

"That…. Sounds pretty cool, the name rolls off nicely along with your Shatter Storm..." Ruby tapped her finger on her chin in thought again. "But I think it's already been used."

"Oh, 'that so?" Claude asked with mild curiosity.

"Yeah, there's this movie about a superhero who used this awesome battle-axe called Stormbreaker. It's very cool!" Ruby almost ranted. "If you want, I can show you the movie some time!"

"I'll think about it when I have the time." Claude nodded. "...But back to naming my new gun."

"Right, right. Hm…." Ruby hummed and thought hard again. "...What about Mjolnir?"

"...As in the one from Atlas bedtime story?" Claude asked with a tone of recognition. "...But it's supposed to be a hammer, isn't it?" Claude quirked one of his eyebrows.

Ruby tilted her head. "Yes, that one, but…. I'm thinking something along…. Mjolnir Mk. II."

"Mjolnir Mk. II..." Claude's eyes turned contemplative as he thought of the name. "That… actually sounds kind of witty…. I like it."

"Then it's settled." Ruby smiled as she turned to smile at the gun as if she was smiling at a child. "Nice to meet you, Mjolnir Mk. II!"

"Yeah, welcome aboard." Claude also quipped as he ran his hand slowly over the holstered firearm.

Ruby looked at the gun in admiration until a thought crossed her mind. "Say, Sterling… Speaking of Mjolnir…" She trailed with mischief in her eyes.

Claude stared at his niece for a second before he blinked in realisation. His mind appeared to be thinking of the same thing - the story around the original Mjolnir, the _enchanted_ hammer. He brought the gun above Ruby and him, and as if on cue, both of them spoke in orchestrated voice.

"Whoever is worthy shalt hath the power!"

They remained silent for a few seconds after saying quoting the particular line of the tale, before they slowly broke into laughter. "Oh, man! That actually sounds dumb!" Claude commented between laughs.

"I think we should tinker Mjolnir Mk. II with fingerprints scanner, or voice recognition!" Ruby added, before she paused to look at Claude with hopeful expression. "...Can you make it so I'm… y'know, 'worthy' as well? Pretty please?" She clasped her hands together and blinked cutely at him, sporting her best puppy-look.

As usual, Claude was not affected much. "Hm… I wonder…" he tapped his chin and sent a playful grin. "Maybe a few years later, when your hands are big enough to wield it."

"How rude! I'm not small! I drink milk!" Ruby crossed her arms with a pout - which Claude found it _adorable_ , no matter how many times he had seen it.

"Sure, you are, Ruby. Sure, you are." Claude nodded in patronizing manner before he glanced at the clock on the wall. "...Well, I gotta check on team JNPR soon. Do you have any plans with your own team today?" Claude said while holstering his gun, but he didn't receive any reply. He then saw Ruby was slumping her body on top of the desk-booth while keeping her pouty look. "...Something wrong?"

"...Nothing. Weiss has an idea of team RWBY going out to the town today." Ruby said before sighing. "Jaune sure is lucky… To be an apprentice under an awesome guy like you…"

Claude blinked for a couple of times before he chuckled to himself. "Now, now, Rubes. While I did sponsor Jaune's enrolment, 'apprentice' is just the easiest term to describe the relationship between Jaune and I. Rather, considering our respective positions, don't you think you and the others also my apprentices?"

"But you announced the status exclusively on Jaune, didn't you?" Ruby huffed away.

"Come on, Ruby. Look at me." The girl did not turn fully to him, but she turned her eyes toward him. "You all are my dear students, don't think otherwise." Ruby slowly turned to him when she saw his truthful expression. "...But you are aware that Jaune is still being left behind despite his improvement. I gotta make sure he is keeping up with the class, no?"

"Well… I guess you're right." Ruby looked down with slightly ashamed expression on her face.

Smiling at his niece, Claude silently let out a breath before speaking again. "...I tell you what." Claude said as he placed his hand on Ruby's shoulder, prompting her to turn to him again. "I'll see if I can cook up a joint program between JNPR and RWBY. What I have in store for Jaune, I'll make sure you and everyone else get it. What do you say?"

Ruby rolled her eyes around as if in thought for a few seconds, before her face lit up into a smile. "Sure, I'd like that!"

Claude nodded with his own smile as he proceeded to move his hand from Ruby's shoulder to her head, caressing her scalp in the process and elicited another pleased giggle from her. Ruby then blinked, before she fished her scroll out from her skirt pocket, finding it vibrating from receiving a message. "Uh-oh, it's Weiss. It's almost time for our meeting! I gotta go, see you later, Sterling! Let me know when your shield is finished!"

"Be careful out there and have fun!" Claude called out at the sight of Ruby running to the exit.

"Yes, dad~!" Ruby replied with a playful tone before she disappeared at the door, leaving Claude blinking at the name-calling directed at him.

"...Heh." Claude chuckled shortly a moment later. ... _Dad, eh?_ \- However, before he could have gone further with his muse, he suddenly saw Port and Oobleck entering the room.

"'Sup, you two." Claude greeted the approaching duo.

"Just checking up on you, Claude." Barty replied. "We see that you just finished some bonding session with Ms. Rose."

"I have to say, it was heart-warming to watch you two interacting, especially when she called you 'dad'." Peter quipped from Barty's side.

"Well, I did promise Ruby to test out my new weapon together." Claude shrugged and patted the gun holstered on his waist. He then gave a half-lid smile to Peter. "And stop that, Pops. You know what Ruby and I are to one another."

"If you say so, sir. But my point remains." The said professor returned.

"Oh, by the way, guys. Say hello to Mjolnir Mk. II." Claude said as he showed his gun again.

"Mjolnir? You named it after the weapon belonged to the thunder god of Atlasian folklore?" Barty said as his amused eyes trailing at the revolver.

"It was Ruby's idea, but yes."

"Hmm… I can sort of see the reason behind the idea." Peter said while looking at the gun with keen eyes. "...Yes, Mjolnir… Mk. II. I think the name fits, sir." Peter smiled after mulling over the name, receiving a grateful nod from Claude in return.

"If I have to be honest, I believe it'd be more fitting if the gun can perform, at least something noteworthy as the original Mjolnir, no?" Barty asked.

Claude and Peter stared at Barty for a second before they shared a knowing smile at each other. "Peter, get some earplugs. The sound is probably gonna be a lot louder in this place." Claude ordered, and Peter did as he was told without another word.

Barty only blinked behind his glasses as he accepted a couple of earplugs from Peter, who had put on one of his own. Claude who had made his own preparation, was already on stand-by with his gun aimed at the new target. He glanced at his two friends to see that they were watching him. He then re-aimed his gun and pulled the trigger.

That day, Glynda Goodwitch rubbed her eyes tiredly after hearing many reports of Beacon students and other staff, claiming that they heard a loud booming noise from the shooting range.

* * *

When Claude went inside one of the training rooms, he found that team JNPR just finished another round of spar, between Jaune and Pyrrha, of course. The former was looking haggard on the ground, with sweat covering his visible skin marred with small scuffs and bruises, while Pyrrha was slightly looking winded. Ren and Nora were dutifully providing drinks and towels for the two combatants to freshen up.

"How is it going, kids?" Claude greeted as he approached the team.

"Sterling!" Jaune perked up at the sight of newly appointed 'mentor', and tried to stand up.

"Whoa, easy there, Jaune-boy. I can tell you did good so far just by looking." Claude placated with an amused smile, before he turned to Pyrrha who was assisting her partner. "How did it go?"

"We've done per your regimen, sir." Pyrrha replied as well as showed a clipboard with a few papers on it.

As if on cue, Nora quipped up as well. "Me and Renny did our rounds too, captain!" She saluted and Ren nodded in agreement, inwardly shaking his head good-naturedly at his partner. "We'll beat our fearless leader back into shape again later!"

The regimen Claude had set up for Jaune was nothing complicated, considering the tutelage Jaune had received from Pyrrha before. Every day, team JNPR would use their free time on improving themselves in either combat, class or anything for team-exercise. The day happened when they would spend their time sparring to measure themselves, with Claude overseeing their session.

"Great. We'll take a five, and after that, Pyrrha; you'll have a round with me, while Jaune will face against either Ren or Nora."

Everyone nodded at Claude's instruction before resuming their break. "I say this again; good job, all of you; Jaune, in particular…" Claude turned to the blonde in the group. "You're surprisingly a fast learner. No wonder you did well during our match in Forever Fall."

Jaune looked a tad bashful as his friends sent him smiles, grins and occasional pokes of encouragement on his side. "Well, I guess because I have good friends backing me up." He looked gratefully at his team.

"Well said." Claude nodded. "At this rate, I think you guys have a good chance to participate in Vytal Festival this year…. Although you probably will have to join anyways, since your team already made up half of the entire first-years." He shrugged at the end.

"Um…." Nora raised her hand up. "What's Vytal Festival again?"

"It's a world-wide event held in one of four kingdoms on Remnant every two years, Nora." Ren provided with a small sigh. "We watched it on the television in the local bistro two years ago."

Nora's eyes then lit up a few seconds later. "...Oh, that tournament thing!?" She said with recognition and excitement. "And it will be held in Vale soon?!"

"Yes, Nora. This year's Vytal Festival will be held in Vale." Ren replied with eased patience.

At this point, Nora's eyes were filled with stars as she breathed in a gasp. "So we're going to fight together as a team?! Are we gonna break some legs in the tournament?!"

Ren only closed his eyes as he let out a silent breath through his nose. Jaune and Pyrrha had come to the conclusion that, when it came to Nora Valkyrie, Lie Ren possessed the patience of a saint. Fortunately for the quiet boy, Claude decided to step in, "In reverse order; yes, Nora. You… well, I guess 'might' be able to break some legs."

When Nora bit her lower lip to hold back a squeal upon hearing the answer, Ren rubbed his eyes while sighing. "...Sterling, please don't encourage her."

Claude simply raised his eyebrows at Ren. "What? It's a combat tournament; people fight there and they get hurt. Cases where participants suffered a fracture or two are not unheard of."

"You're not wrong, but…" Pyrrha quipped in. "Haven't the rules been regulated and more strict as time went by? Particularly about aura levels; combatant with aura on red level will be immediately declared out of the fight to prevent serious injuries."

Claude blinked at the redhead, before he nodded and pointed at her. "Yes, there's that. I'm just saying that accidents can still happen if one is careless." He then turned to Nora. "So Nora, you won't be able to break people's legs once they are deemed no longer in the fight."

"D'aaw…" Nora whined but did not say anything more, eliciting another sigh from Ren.

"What about the setting again? We're fighting in teams, right?" Jaune asked.

Claude looked around briefly before replying, "...Yes, I believe so, Jaune." After all, his Vytal Festival was most likely different than the current one.

Jaune nodded and his eyes perked up a second later. "Oh, speaking of which, I recall my dad's story about the one he attended, I think it was… 30th Festival? And it was held on Vacuo."

Claude blinked, and Pyrrha apparently also perked up at the information. "Oh, yes. I remember that one as well. According to my parents, the 30th Vytal Festival was particularly different in terms of set-up."

Nora and Ren perked up a little as they became interested. "Nora and I don't know too much about the past festivals. What happened?" The latter asked in curiosity.

"Basically, the councils of Vacuo proposed the tournament to be a free for all one-to-one battle tournament, but the idea was immediately put on the back burner as soon as the festival had ended. The other councils and headmasters reviewed the lay out as, 'not suited for the Vytal Festival that symbolises union and peace'. Nevertheless, the 30th Vytal Festival still happened as one oddity among other festivals so far." Pyrrha explained. "However, there's another catch…. For some reason, a few years after, the information around participants were… vanished."

"...Vanished?" Nora was intrigued more than anything.

"That's normal, isn't it?" Ren replied. "Even the information of participants and battles of previous festivals were mostly censored to ensure fair play for the next one, and there's also 50-50 chance that a student can only participate one Vytal Festival during their time in academy." It was simply how important the Vytal Festival for huntsmen and huntresses in training.

"No, it's not just censorship anymore." Jaune piped in. "I heard from my dad… That the information was just… gone, deleted. All you would find is that 30th Vytal Festival exists as a free-for-all one to one tournament, but you won't find anything about the fights and participants."

"Jaune's right." Pyrrha nodded. "There's no definite explanation of what caused this or what was going on; many people believe that it was government's conspiracy, sabotaging, the list of speculations keep going… But enough of that." Pyrrha said, realising that the story had taken an uncomfortable tone. She then noticed Claude had yet to say anything, opting to listen on the sideline. "...Mr. Cole, you've been rather quiet."

"Ah, sorry, sorry." Claude quickly replied. "I'm just… y'know, engrossed with the story…. Kind of spooky, actually; a world-wide tournament that is still unknown to most people." He shrugged, trying to play it off. As a matter of fact, the 30th Vytal Festival was _fun_ times…. But there was still one thing about it that he'd rather not remember.

"I see…" Pyrrha stared at the teacher for a few seconds before she turned to Jaune. "Speaking of which… Jaune, so you've heard about the 30th Vytal Festival from your father?"

"Yeah; apparently, my dad would tell every single one of his children about that story at least once. I don't remember much of the details, but I think I was only five when he told me."

Claude noticed the word 'children' in Jaune's reply. "So you're not the only child, then?"

"Yep, it's me and my seven sisters." Jaune returned easily.

"Seven?!" The others gawked at the information, Claude in particular. _Seven_ children? "...Huh, I guess Mr and Mrs. Arc have been busy."

Jaune furrowed his eyebrows, and his cheeks became a tad flustered at Claude's remark. "Ugh, I know. Please don't remind me." His shivering retort alone was enough telling that Jaune might or might not have witnessed the act, accidental or not.

Pyrrha, ever the good girl who noted that her partner was not comfortable, diverted the conversation back. "So, anything you recall from your father's story?"

Jaune hummed, trying to look into his memory for a few seconds. "...Well, I recall he watched the finals and the one who won that time."

Unnoticed by everyone else, Claude froze at Jaune's reply. Silently swallowing a small lump, Claude remained silent while staring at Jaune.

"That's it, of course!" However, everyone else did not expect to have Pyrrha suddenly stood up with a snap of her fingers. They looked at her wide eyes, and Claude did not miss that her green eyes were trailing towards him. "I remember now!"

"Um, Pyrrha?" However, Pyrrha was interrupted by her partner. "...What is it?"

Realising her own outburst, Pyrrha coughed into her hand and sat back down on the floor with a flustered face. "Right, sorry. I just… found out about this sense of deja vu I've been having around Mr. Cole." She then smiled a tad eagerly at the man in question.

Claude unconsciously swallowed another small lump. _Did she find out?_ It did not matter of how, but Pyrrha's knowledge could make things harder for him to proceed.

Pyrrha cleared her throat again as she shifted her sitting position so she was facing Claude fully. "Tell me, sir. Are you by any chance..."

Ren and Nora slowly raised their eyebrows in anticipation, with Jaune leaned forward in curiosity. Claude had a small sweat trickling on his neck.

"...A fan of Lord of Thunder?"

Claude shut his eyes tight - he bit his lips as he could feel his blood was rushing to his head from the sheer embarrassment. Of all things, it just had to be that stupid title that lingered on everyone's mind.

"Sorry, who?"

Small reprieve came in the form of Ren and Nora who had questioning, as well as amused looks. Jaune took upon himself to answer, "Right, Lord of Thunder, the champion of 30th Vytal Festival." he then chuckled slightly. "Any footage or records around him had been erased, but I still remember how ecstatic he was when he re-told the story. That's just how cool Lord of Thunder was, at least in my dad's eyes."

"Actually, my parents have one." Pyrrha piped up, garnering looks from the others. "...A recording, I mean."

Ever since the 20th Vytal Festival, for the sake of its sanctity, the councils had forbidden any unauthorised recordings of the tournament. Still, it did not stop any opportunistic or unruly people from sneaking a footage or two.

"Back in their younger days, my parents managed to sneak a video recording during the final match of the tournament." Pyrrha said with embarrassed tone. "Since they're trying to be discreet, as well as the technology back then was still out-dated, the footage itself wasn't very clear….. And they made me watch it once when I was five." She giggled at the end.

"How did you find it?" Jaune asked in return.

"Well…." Pyrrha became a tad more bashful as she played with her fingers. "...I found it… inspiring. Looking at his performance in a poorly recorded video was enough to make me taking up arms similar to his and becoming a huntress."

Embarrassing as it was, Claude found himself flattered as well. To have someone like Pyrrha was inspired by _him_ …. It felt nice.

"So you're another fan!" Nora exclaimed, snapping everyone out.

Pyrrha's face reddened, but she did not deny it. "...Well, I guess I am." Then, she turned to Claude again. "I believe we also have another one, am I right, sir?"

Claude bit his lips again, contemplating what he should say. _Well, fuck_.

"...Yep, you're absolutely right. I'm also a fan, didn't you see my weapon?" Claude was able to put a smile on his face as he swallowed all of his embarrassment down to his gut, receiving several nods from his students.

"Still, though. _Lord of Thunder_?" Ren quipped in, rubbing his chin as he heard the words from his lips. "It sounds…. off."

Inwardly, Claude nodded at Ren's opinion; it was downright stupid, and he'd rather not hearing that nickname _ever again_. However, soon the conversation delved towards a direction Claude did not like.

"I honestly see no harm about 'Lord of Thunder'..." Jaune spoke. "...But from my dad's story, I'd say Lightning Lord sounds better."

"Perhaps 'Lightning Emperor'?" Pyrrha also spoke. "Because I recall he was… kind of dominating the battle."

"Oh, then God of Thunder!" Nora finally piped in. Soon, team JNPR was animatedly talking about a fitting nickname for the champion of 30th Vytal Festival.

 _Oh, god_. Claude quietly groaned as he ran both of his hands on his face - _this might take a while_.

* * *

It was night time when Ruby ran around Beacon in distraught. What was supposed to be a simple day of hang-out with her team had ended with a disaster. Honestly, she had no idea how things ended up as it was; they were accompanying Weiss to the docks in order to spy - no, to _welcome_ the students from other Kingdoms for the upcoming Vytal Festival. Then, after running into a crime scene of robbery, as well as a stowaway faunus from Mistral, their hang-out soon turned into an argument between Weiss and Blake.

Their argument lasted until they returned to their rooms, and things heated up when the White Fang was brought up. Weiss was gung-ho on condemning their criminal acts, while Blake vehemently defended them - saying that they were never terrorists in the first place, which led to a revelation that Blake was a faunus, testament of what was hidden beneath the black bow on her head.

Yang was currently trying to calm Weiss down, while Ruby swiped the school ground to find her other team-mate. After coming up with no result, Ruby found herself standing in front of Sterling's room, hoping that he could help her somehow. She hesitated for a moment when she raised her hand to knock on the door - was it okay for her to just run to the teacher, when it's supposed to be her job as the leader to solve her team's issue? Was it even okay for her to disturb him at this time of night? However, the image of Blake's face when she ran away in her mind, immediately banished her doubt and Ruby knocked the door a couple of times.

It took a few seconds when the door opened and revealed another man with the same eyes as hers and her mother's. "Ruby?" Claude asked; he only opened the door enough for his head and upper body to stick out. "...What's wrong?"

Ruby was lost for a second as heat got to her face; it appeared that Sterling just came out of shower, judging from his damp hair, topless figure with a pair of pants and a towel wrapped around his shoulder. Nonetheless, she managed to regain her focus. "Um, err… Sorry for intruding this late at night…" At least an apology was a proper start.

"It's okay. Sorry for answering the door like… this either. Force of habit." Claude gave an easy smile with a tinge of embarrassment at his current apparel. "Anyway, how can I help you?"

"Oh, right!" Ruby shook her head. "...Have you seen Blake anywhere? Did she come here by any chance?" She tried to peek into the room, but the older man's height over her prevented her to get even a glimpse.

"No, I'm afraid not." He replied easily enough. "Is something wrong with Blake…? Y'know what? Let me get dressed and I'll help you search for her."

"N-no, no! It's alright!" However, Ruby opted to back away, holding up both of her arms in refusal. "I don't think it's anything serious! I don't want to bother you any longer, I can look for her alone! Though… Can you let me know if she happens to come around?"

Claude blinked a few times, before he finally nodded. "No problem. But are you sure you don't need my help? It's no bother, really." He finished with a kind smile.

Ruby tried to suppress a smile coming to her face at her teacher's words, but she shook her head in the end. "No, don't worry. I promise it'll be just fine. I'll let you know if anything else comes up. Goodnight! Sorry for bothering again!" With that, she immediately used her Semblance to leave Claude alone.

oXo

Claude waited for his niece to vanish at the corner of the hallway, then he returned to his room and closed the door with an expression as if he just sucked a lemon. He did not have a shower, as a matter of fact - what he did was taking off his top, splashing some water over his head and took a towel before answering the door and shooing his niece away. It was already bad enough for him to lie about his identity; if people thought he would feel fine lying a bit again to his niece, even if it was to help another person, then they were _wrong_.

He then turned around to see two people sitting on his bed next to each other - a young man with blonde hair and a girl with black hair. However, Claude lightly glared at the source of his current predicament, which was the girl, who had the word 'guilty' plastered all over her person. The blonde in the room simply looked awkwardly between the two.

Sighing, Claude then walked aside to pick up a black T-shirt from his dresser and put it on his body, before he addressed the girl again. "...I believe you should start talking, Ms. Belladonna."

* * *

 **Thanks again for Starlight's Poet for beta-reading. It was thanks to him as well that I realised I've made an error back in the prologue. I've fixed it of course, so be sure to check it out! Please review, and obviously, no flames! Ahsoei, over and out.**


	17. Of Runaways and Reunion (II)

**RWBY: The Redeemer**

* * *

 **Beta-read by Starlight's Poet**

 **Chapter 16: Of Runaways and Reunion (II)**

Claude sighed as he walked across the courtyard during the evening. The training session with team JNPR took longer than he expected because the talk about the 30th Vytal Festival, which was mentally taxing on him to remember the particularly embarrassing moment of his life. At this point, he was grateful that Roman had erased the records about that tournament, since it would be easier for him to forget.

The air was rather pleasant, and Claude enjoyed his walk until he arrived at the Beacon Academy statue - a structure depicting a huntsman and huntress triumphing over a Beowulf grimm; he stopped on his trek upon seeing a particular sight.

Standing before the statue was Blake Belladonna, her face looked distraught, her eyes were staring at the statue, as if searching for something. Claude was about to call the girl out when her hands slowly reached towards her head. He waited for a moment until he saw Blake untying the black bow on top of her head, revealing a pair of extra pair of ears which looked to be belonged to a cat.

Claude blinked, he was not that surprised since he'd already had a suspicion ever since he read her paperwork. Still, to learn that Blake was indeed a faunus…

"I know you'd look better without the bow."

Both Claude and Blake turned their heads to see the newcomer; a tanned-skin boy with short spiky blonde hair. The boy was sporting a pair of red wrist bracers over black fingerless gloves and an open loose-collared white jacket with no shirt underneath, displaying his toned physique. His lower-half was clad in blue cargo pants tied up with a white belt. He wore white bandages on his legs and had a chain hanging from the belt loop on the right side of his pants. Finally, he wore a pair of black and yellow sneakers on his feet, as well as a golden necklace around his neck.

Seeing an unknown person suddenly butting into a private moment, Claude took it upon himself to step in as well. "Blake?" He called out as he approached the now-startled girl.

"M-Mr. Ro-!?" Blake paused for a second as she quickly glanced at the other boy. "Um, Mr. Cole? What are you doing here?" She asked towards Claude as she was able to calm herself down.

"Just finished a session with JNPR, and the same question can be directed to you, y'know?" Claude returned. "Weren't you with your team?"

Blake wanted to reply, but when she felt Claude's silver eyes gazing on her, she unconsciously raised one hand to cover her cat ears. Seeing Blake's behaviour, Claude heaved a sigh. He then turned to the other boy in the vicinity. "And who might you be?"

The boy pointed at himself questioningly for a second before he widened his eyes. "Wait, you're a teacher?" He asked while pointing at Claude.

The teacher shrugged, "I know I don't really look like one, but…. Yes, I am; and you are…?" He asked again.

The boy quickly straightened himself up and waved his hand in greeting. "Sun Wukong of Haven Academy, sir."

Claude nodded in acknowledgement. "...Right. I suggest you go back to your dorm room now; the building for exchange students are over there, east wing, you can't miss it." He then turned to Blake and offered his hand. "Come on, let's get you back to your room."

However, Blake suddenly took a step back. "...Blake?" Claude furrowed his eyebrows at her sudden move.

"I… I'm sorry." Blake looked away with an expression filled with shame. "I can't… I can't go back to them like this."

Claude wanted to ask why, but he suddenly noticed the small shifts in Blake's movements. In response, he also shifted his footing, ready to catch up to her as soon as she moved - she was trying to run away. Apparently, it seemed that the girl also noticed the way Claude was looking at her. She'd rather not to involve anyone in her own issues, but at the same time, she also knew that outrunning someone on Claude's caliber would not be an easy task, not to mention that Sun's presence might also get the situation more complicated than it was.

"Blake!"

Claude, Blake and Sun turned towards the small voice echoing from a distance, it was Ruby's voice. Claude then turned towards Blake, whose expression was a mixture of guilt and horror; when Claude looked more, he noticed that her body was trembling, she was biting her lower lip anxiously and her amber eyes had begun to tear up. She looked at him with a pleading expression, a subtle shake of her head begging him not to let her meeting with her younger leader.

Claude narrowed his eyes, contemplating his next action. Any minute now and Ruby would show up and find Blake, whom still looked like she wanted to be anywhere but here. On one hand, he'd rather have Ruby find Blake and solve whatever issues the latter had together as a team. On the other hand, Claude could not ignore the expression Blake was giving him.

A split second later, Claude clicked his tongue and made his decision. "You, go to your dorm!" He pointed at Sun who was still present, and proceeded to grab Blake's hand.

When Ruby arrived at the courtyard, she found nobody was around and proceeded to look for her missing teammate somewhere else.

oXo

Sitting on his chair inside his room, Claude rubbed his head in exasperation after hearing the whole story from Blake - from the hang-out with the team, arguing with Weiss, until she ran out on them after revealing her heritage and history, eventually running into Claude.

Claude sighed tiredly; it was one thing learning that Blake was a faunus in disguise, but to learn that she used to be a White Fang? He honestly did not see that one coming. At least with that revelation, Claude was able to see the current problem; how badly it would be for the team if they were to leave it be, and possible solutions. "Okay…. I see what's going on." Then again, there was still one particular question needed to be addressed. "...And that's why you ran away from your team?"

Blake looked away in shame as she rubbed her arms with her free hand. "...In their eyes, well, at least in Weiss' eyes… I'm a criminal in disguise, along with the White Fang. That's why, with the way things are, I cannot go back to them."

Claude wanted to retort, something about Blake's attitude and view towards her team. However, he suddenly found himself unable to say the words that just died in his throat. He then closed his eyes, his expression contorted as if he just swallowed something foul, and decided to address one more occupant in his room. "...How the hell did you get inside here again? Didn't I tell you to go back to your room?"

Sun Wukong was sitting on the floor with unrepentant expression on his face. "In reverse order; the curiosity got the better of me…" He said as he gave a quick glance at Blake. "...And your windows are open."

Claude glanced at the window that was _indeed_ left open for him to have some night air. "...This is the fourth floor."

"I am confident with my climbing skills."

At Sun's simple answers, Claude only stared at the boy for a second before he closed his eyes and sighed again. "I'll deal with you later." He told Sun before he turned to address the main elephant in the room. "Back to you, Blake. What are you going to do now?"

In response, Blake only stared at Claude with slightly intrigued eyes, before she looked down to the floor. "I… I don't know yet. I still can't believe that the White Fang is behind these robberies. They never needed that much Dust before."

"Why wouldn't they be?" Claude crossed his arms, before he quickly followed up before Blake could have retorted. "Don't get me wrong, Blake, but you've said it yourself, the White Fang is no longer the same organisation you used to know, which is the reason why you chose to leave them in the first place."

Blake's jaw tightened as Claude went on. "They've been committing assaults of various degree on business and establishments that refused faunus. Why don't you believe that they can't commit robberies? Not to mention, Dust is highly valuable for people; both humans and faunus alike."

"Because the robberies themselves are not normal, even for their standards!" Blake stood up in defiance. "I admit that White Fang had committed robberies, but all they stole was money, and half of them are to be donated for settlements with faunus population outside the Kingdoms! They did steal Dust before, but never this much! Something is wrong, and I'm going to find out! I won't let the White Fang's name to be tarnished any further."

Claude remained on his seat, meeting Blake's glare with his own calm stare. The silent persisted for a few seconds until the last person in the room raised his hand. "Um…"

Blake and Claude turned towards Sun, who was sitting awkwardly on the floor. "...If you want to prove that the White Fang aren't behind the robberies, then shouldn't we go to the place where they would most _likely_ go to if they were to do it, and not find them there! Right?"

Both Claude and Blake blinked at Sun's theory, finding it to hold some point and logic.

The two's silence prompted Sun to continue, "I learned one thing or two when I was on the ship to Vale." Sun began to grow a confident smile on his face.. "Some crews talked about a huge Dust shipping coming to Vale from Atlas."

"How huge are we talking here?" Blake asked.

"SDC freighter huge."

Blake then looked contemplative, which was not a good sign for Claude. The Schnee Dust Company and White Fang... those two components mixing were going to result in something ugly at this current stage of things. He knew well enough that it was most likely to be futile to stop whatever the two teenagers were about to do, so he might as well do his best to mitigate the damage. Besides… considering it was _robbery_ case they were talking about, there was a chance Claude could find Roman.

"...Sunday night." Blake and Sun blinked and turned towards Claude, who said those two words. "If I were to rob a massive Dust crate straight from the docks, I'd choose Sunday night. The docks will be closed from public, most people and workers would be asleep for the following Monday."

When Claude looked up, he found the two teens were staring at him. Blake in particular, was looking as if she did not believe what he had said. "...What?" Claude asked.

"...Why are you saying this? Why are you helping me?" Blake asked.

"Honestly, Blake…." Claude scoffed. "Will you actually stop and just return to your team if I ask you?"

"No, it's just…" Blake struggled to come up with the correct phrasing. "You're taking this whole thing…. Better than I thought."

Claude stared at Blake for a few seconds before he sighed yet again. "Blake, I honestly don't really care whether you're a faunus or not… Although I already had some suspicion since day one." When Blake looked confused, Claude elaborated, "Perhaps you shouldn't have said that you were raised in Managerie on your papers."

Blake then looked bashful, garnering some amused looks from Claude and Sun. Claude then continued, "...And seriously, why do you and other people care whether you're faunus or human? What makes us so different? We all eat, drink, sleep, piss and fuck just like everyone else! Hell, even Creatures of Grimm never see us differently!" Claude threw his hands up.

Blake was a bit taken aback, while Sun was rather amused at the crude point coming from Claude's mouth. The man himself then released a breath to calm himself down. "...And regarding your history with the White Fang… Well, you're here now instead of remaining with them."

Blake then looked down again, carefully processing Claude's reasoning. The man then proceeded to deliver one last line. "If I cannot stop you from going, then… At least I'll make sure that you can come out of this fiasco alive."

Blake then looked up, showing a small smile on her face. "...Thanks."

"Don't thank me until you make up with your team…" Claude paused for a second before shaking his head briefly. "On second thought, yeah; you owe me so much for this." He was practically doing what a teacher was not supposed to do in aiding his students committing vigilantism.

Blake's expression turned a bit sheepish, before turning towards Sun and looked at him expectantly. The blonde seemed to catch the meaning behind her amber eyes. "Yeah, of course. It can be fun." Sun shrugged with an easy-going smile on his face.

Blake then nodded. "We'll meet up tomorrow night at the docks and start the investigation. There's still a chance that the White Fang would strike earlier." Blake straightened herself up as she prepared to leave.

"Wait, hang on." Claude interrupted. "...Where will you spend the night if you don't want to go back to your room?"

"There's a small apartment in the town where I stayed before coming to Beacon. The landlord is my acquaintance, so I'll get by if it's just for one night."

"I see… If you're sure, then fine." Claude then turned towards Sun. "I suppose you won't tell anyone about this?"

"Yeah, I'll behave. Catch ya guys tomorrow!" Sun saluted with a grin as he stood up. Much to Claude and Blake's mild surprise, the blonde opted to jump out of the open window instead of going through the door.

"Huh, okay, then." Claude shrugged after staring at the window for a second. He smiled inwardly; somehow, despite the rough start, he got a feeling that he would go along with Sun Wukong.

Blake noticed that the young teacher proceeded to holster his gun and don his red coat. "Where are you going?"

"Coming with you." Claude replied as he put on his boots. "It's pretty late out there, after all."

Blake crossed her arms and shifted her posture as if she was being mocked. "...I can look after myself."

"Good to know, but there's another reason why I'm coming with you." Claude turned towards her. "Depending on the building itself, I might want to rent a room for myself, in case of emergency." He said with a neutral smile.

Blake stared at Claude for a few seconds before she gave out a small breath. "Suit yourself, then." She shrugged and walked away, with Claude walking up alongside her. The trek out of the academy ground went on without a hitch, since there was no other teachers or students milling around to witness them together. In less than one hour, Blake and Claude were already walking on the downtown streets of Vale.

A few minutes of walking later, Blake glanced at the man beside her and decided to speak up. "So… What's your name? Your real name, I mean." She asked after reaffirming the reason why she turned to the man. Perhaps it was because they had something in common - secrets; secrets that they'd rather keep close to their chests. Then again, Blake's secret were already known to her team, her teacher and an exchange student from Mistral. Surely it was only fair for her to gain more incentives from him?

Apparently, she got what she expected when Claude glanced back at her for a second before replying while resuming to look at the road ahead. "...It's Claude, Claude Rose."

"Claude Rose…" Blake whispered to herself before she returned her attention towards the name. "...So you really are related to Ruby… and Yang?"

"...Yes." Claude replied cryptically.

They walked again for another few moments until Blake then asked again. "Why did you lie to them in the first place?"

Claude winced at the question, which did not go unnoticed by Blake. "...Claude?" the girl looked at him quizzically.

When Claude turned to answer her, Blake blinked at the sight of his face; he was smiling, yet Blake never thought to see such a sad smile to appear on his face. "Not dissimilar with why you're running away now."

Claude then kept walking, leaving the stunned Blake behind for a few seconds until she caught up with him again. As they went on, Blake stared at Claude's visage again to see his expression had returned to normal, before she returned her gaze forward, all while her mind was thinking about his sad expression earlier. As far as she knew about him, Claude Rose as Sterling Cole had always been strong, easy-going and confident, along with little moments of mischief. The name might have been fake, but the emotions and expressions he showed to both team RWBY and JNPR had been real.

It was rather surprising to see this other side of him; perhaps by the end of the day, Claude Rose was still a human with his own inner demons.

There was also something else going on, and Blake could not bring herself to ask further despite her curiosity. She wondered about what Claude meant about having a reason like hers - did he really mean it literally? Or did he mean it only in some ways?

Not to mention, he said that he was related to Ruby and Yang - that also garnered one curious question from Blake; who was he, a cousin? Brother? Or some sort of distant relative?

The mysteries surrounding Claude Rose kept occupying her mind until she and Claude arrived at their destination, a humble two-story apartment in the commercial district, not too far from the Bullhead port. She walked in and greeted the apartment owner, engaged in small talk until she was allowed access to her old room. Before she went deeper into the building however, she gave one last glance at the sight of Claude Rose having small talk with the landlord.

Blake had become more curious about who Claude Rose truly was.

* * *

It was the following Saturday, due to one obvious reason and another, Claude decided to give team JNPR and in extension, team RWBY a day-off, allowing them to rest, relax, learn and grow on their own pace - at least for team JNPR, while Claude would have some time to prepare for his 'weekend outing'.

As he walked on the school grounds, Claude spotted three girls of team RWBY, all of them were heading to the direction of the Bullhead port. Ruby was looking worried, Yang was also looking worried while occasionally throwing dirty looks at Weiss, who was looking irritated. The leader's face, however, cheered up slightly when her eyes met his. "Sterling!" Ruby greeted, prompting Yang and Weiss to turn to him as well.

"Hey, girls." Claude greeted back with an easy-going smile as he approached the trio. He stared at them for a second before he decided to speak up. "...I take Blake didn't come back?" - _God_ , _I'm an asshole._

Ruby looked down, with Yang and Weiss glancing at her. It seemed that the latter two knew that Ruby had turned to the teacher during her search for Blake. "No…. Did you…?" the young girl looked up at him with hopeful look.

"Sorry, I'm afraid I didn't see her this morning either." It was not a lie, technically speaking. Claude did not see Blake anywhere when he woke up in the _morning_ \- _Goddammit, why the hell do I sound like Ozpin?!_

Ruby and Yang looked more downcast even more, even Weiss began to replace her scowl with a small worried look at her partner. Claude knew that he had a hand in this mess, but that did not mean he was allowed to do nothing. Placing one hand on top of Ruby's head, he gave a small ruffling to get the girl look at him. "Everything is gonna be alright, Ruby. I promise." He said with a warm smile.

Ruby's face lit up a bit as she looked down with a smile of her own; she put her hands behind her back and began to play her feet with one another on the ground, while enjoying the feeling of the hand caressing her crown.

"Ahem." the sound of clearing throat caused both Ruby and Claude to blink - the latter automatically took his hand off the former's head, to see Yang and Weiss staring at them with amusement, albeit there was a hint of disapproval in the heiress' eyes. "Should I file in a report of a teacher laying his hand on his female student?" the blonde asked with a mischievous grin.

Ruby yelped and took a quick step back away from Claude, who was looking awkward himself. The girl then covered her head with her red hood while blabbering with hushed tone, prompting Weiss to sigh. "...Come on, Ruby. If you want to find Blake then we need to move." She said as she threw one dirty glance at Claude, who returned the gesture with an impassive look.

As the girls made their leave, Yang happened to walk behind to give Claude one particular look - she was still smiling, but there was ever so slightly narrowing of her lilac eyes, as if she was trying to relay a message to him as she walked by. Claude remained unaffected until the girls left his sight. Once he was alone, he sighed himself as he ran his hand through his let-down hair. _Well, that was something_ \- Ruby just had this tendency to trigger his instinct to look after her.

He looked up to the blue sky above Beacon - _there's still enough time_ , Claude then shrugged and walked off somewhere else he had in mind. A good few minutes later, Claude found team JNPR, who was seen sitting together in an unused classroom. Nora happened to notice his presence first, and she quickly tapped Jaune's arm to alert him. "He's here!" Claude could hear Nora's whisper and Jaune - who had his back turned to him, appeared to try hiding something under the book concealed behind his body. Claude raised an eyebrow as he approached the group. "Having a study session?"

Pyrrha was looking amused at her partner/leader's reaction as she took it upon herself to greet the young teacher. "Good morning, Mr. Cole. Yes, we are… having a team meeting session to review our training so far."

"I see, I see." Clauden nodded. "Well, what you do in your free time is up to you. Just remember that this is your day-offs, be sure to make use of it. And..." He turned his gaze towards Jaune. "...What is it you're trying to hide from me?"

Jaune looked like a deer caught in a head-light. "Nothing!" He replied a bit too quickly.

A teasing grin grew on Claude's lips as he leaned closer. "Hoo? That so?" After staring closely at Jaune, who tried to avoid eye-contact with him, Claude glanced at Nora, who was trying to look innocent but failed miserably; then to Ren, who was simply shaking his head with a calm smile on his face.

Claude then looked across the table - some text-books, and some papers with some points written on it. However, Claude found Nora was slowly taking the papers to her grasp, who received a small elbow being jabbed on her side, courtesy of Pyrrha. Claude narrowed his eyes for a few seconds before speaking up again. "...Is this some kind of conspiracy planning against me?"

"No, of course not!"

"Yeah, why would we do that?"

"You're being ridiculous, Sterling!"

Series of denials came from Nora and Jaune (mostly Nora), garnering an amused look from Claude, who found that Pyrrha and Ren were sharing the same sentiment. "Alright, alright, I guess I'll leave you kids to your thing." Claude chuckled as he ruffled Jaune's head, much to his chagrin. Claude turned around to make his leave, but not before he sent one last grin at the group. "Whatever you have for me, I expect it to be good during our next session."

Once Claude had left the room, Nora visibly relaxed on her seat. "...Welp, I guess he doesn't notice!"

"I think we're being obvious enough for him, Nora." Ren retorted.

* * *

The sky had slowly turned from blue to red, signalling the day had slowly come to an end without much happened, as Claude made his way towards the docks to meet up with Blake and Sun after making sure that he was not being followed. True to her word, he soon found Blake and Sun were standing not far from the docks' entrance gate.

Sun was the first one to greet him, "'Sup, teach!"

Claude waved his hand and "Just Sterling is fine. Blake." He nodded at the girl who nodded back. "Find anything so far?"

"Nothing, but I have a feeling this is just the calm before the storm." Blake replied as she stared at the docks behind the gate. "Now we just need to find a way to get in and hole up until the robbery takes place… Assuming they will come at all."

"Wait." However, before Blake could have walked further towards the gate, Claude placed his hand on her shoulder, stopping her in the process. "I think you're forgetting that you're with an official huntsman."

Blake and Sun blinked at the sight of Claude walking past them towards the guard post, where there was a middle-aged man wearing a uniform sitting with a bored expression on his face. They then saw him greeting the guard, talking with him with the guard stealing quick glances at them, until they both were seen smiling and shaking hands. However, Blake noticed something had been exchanged during the shake-hands between them. A minute later, Claude returned with a smile on his face.

"Did you just bribe him?" Blake asked.

"Whatever makes you think of that?" Claude said with innocent tone. "It's not like we're doing anything _like an unauthorized operation_ , are we?" At his cynical tone, Blake could only sigh in return.

"...Fine, so what did he tell you?"

"As I thought, the shipment from Atlas will arrive tomorrow evening and will be loaded off to Vale by Monday. So I doubt anything will happen tonight."

At Claude's response, Blake looked relieved, yet disappointed at the same time. Sun himself was looking between her and Claude without much certainty. "So... What now?"

"I prefer if Blake will just go back to Beacon and settle things with her team…" Claude paused when he noticed Blake's glare towards him. "...Or we can run the investigation for another day." He said with a sigh.

"We'll come back here again. Meanwhile I'm going to look around the place to see if there's any blind spot in the area." Blake said.

"I think someone's gotta watch your back." Sun volunteered himself to accompany her. Blake glanced at Sun briefly but she did not object in the end.

Claude on the other hand, noticed the way Sun was looking at Blake. He smiled lightly when Blake was looking at him, waiting for his own input. "...I know someone who knows the happenings around Vale. I'll see you two around." With that, Claude then walked away, leaving Sun and Blake alone.

oXo

It was finally night time; Claude was walking towards his next destination, a recently-refurbished nightclub owned by Hei 'Junior' Xiong. He saw a line of people waiting outside the door with a couple of guards, waiting for the next vacancies for them to come in. Claude simply walked into the next line - the VIP line, and stared at the well-dressed henchmen. The two guards appeared to recognise his face, as one of them spoke into a walkie-talkie attached on his shoulder, while the other opened up the door and ushered him to come in.

The other patrons wanted to protest on the difference of treatment, but they chose to remain quiet when they saw the sword strapped on Claude's back, noting that he was most likely a huntsman. It had been a common knowledge that Junior was running another business behind his nightclub, and having an armed, or dangerous-looking individual entering his establishment was no longer that strange of occurence.

Walking through the dancing crowds, blitzing lights, and loud music, Claude made his way easily enough towards the bar, where Junior always stationed himself at. He also noticed the twin sisters that were with him during their last meeting - the Malachites, who disguised themselves as another patron with eye-catching red and white dresses as part of their job.

He took a seat on one empty spot, and as if on cue, Junior was immediately standing in front of him as soon as he noticed his presence. The older man's expression was that of a calm professional. "What would you like to have? The usual again, perhaps?"

"Yes, please." Claude smiled, putting enough lien on the table to pay for the service. A few minutes later, his drink came - a glass of amber-coloured liquid with a block of ice floating inside. As he lifted the glass and about to take a sip, Claude noticed that the twins had been eyeing him like a pair of hawks. "...Ladies." He greeted with a nod in return.

The Malachites stared at him for another few seconds until they found Junior looked pointedly at them, followed with a nod, prompting them to sigh and choose to enjoy the drinks in front of them. Claude himself also finally took a sip and relished the burning sensation running from his mouth down to his throat, before finding Junior in front of him across the table.

"Anything else would you like for tonight?" Junior asked Claude again with a practiced calm, his frame was hunching slightly forward with both of his hands pressed against the bar table, waiting for the patron to reply.

"What do you know about the latest Dust robbery cases?"

Junior narrowed his eyes slightly at Claude, his mind was contemplating the pros and cons of his next course of action. A few seconds later, he finally sighed softly, "...I'll be back shortly. Enjoy your drink for the moment."

Claude nodded as Junior left the bar towards the door behind him, presumably to start digging for information, and the bartender was replaced by another one of his men. As he stared down to his drink again, Claude took another sip as he let out a content sigh. The music around the place was not bad, albeit too loud, considering it was a nightclub; but at least the drink was good. Not to mention, Malachite twins were a sight for sore eyes inside the blinking room with disco lights.

Even in the noisy nightclub, Claude could still enjoy his solitary moments with a glass of good drink.

However, the moment of tranquil ended when Claude found the back of his eyes felt like throbbing. It was a small feeling - nothing painful, but it was still noticeable that it felt unsettling. He then also found his glass was being refilled by the bartender. The service was not unwelcome, but Claude stared at the bartender with questioning looks - even if he had the money, he did not intend to pay for an extra round if he could help it. The bartender in return, only smiled knowingly as he jerked his head towards the other end of the bar. "...From the lady over there, the hot one. You're very lucky tonight."

Claude followed the direction until his silver eyes landed on a pair of bright amber eyes. On the first glance, he could only describe the owner of those eyes as a 'drop-dead gorgeous'. Hair as dark as night, a face that could have plenty of men swoon over her, lustrous figure in red dress that was envied by many women, and the looks that screamed experience. Overall, Claude found her particularly seductive. The said woman also raised her glass as if inviting for a toast, before she took a sip of her own. However, his eyes throbbed again as he kept staring at her, finding that it was some sort of sign, Claude looked down a bit; should he just thanked her and be done with it, or…?

Claude let out a breath - _when you're in doubt, move forward_. He picked up his glass and strode towards the lady, who was currently eyeing him approaching as well. "...You know, I believe it's supposed to be the man who buys the woman a drink."

The woman only let out a sultry giggles - _Damn, even her voice sounded mature._ "I couldn't help it when you look so lonely. Perhaps I should have left you be?" She replied while maintaining a calm smirk on her face.

Claude blinked; was he looking lonely? He was actually enjoying himself despite being alone there. Still, _if_ she was trying to get his attention like this, the least he could do was to humour her. After all, an attractive company did not come often. "Please, I don't mean anything bad by that." Claude replied with placating tone as he took a seat next to her. "In fact, I guess I should thank you, miss….?"

Smiling sultrily, the woman sat up a little straighter as she turned to fully face him, crossing one of her legs over the other. She also leaned slightly as if to purposely show off the exposed the skin beneath her red dress.

"Please, call me Cinder."

* * *

"...Say, can I ask something?"

"You already did."

Sun and Blake were walking together around the docks, investigating the surroundings per the latter's idea, when the former suddenly spoke up first.

"If, I mean, _if_ the White Fang ends up being the one behind the robberies, what are you gonna do?"

Blake glared at the boy for a second, as if she was offended, but she quickly calmed herself; it was just a hypothetical question. "I'll stop them." She replied cryptically.

"Then what are you gonna do about your team? I mean, this whole thing is to prove to your team that White Fang is not just a group of terrorists as you said."

Blake wanted to say something, but her initial reply suddenly died in her throat, as her team suddenly popped out in her mind. Ruby, Yang, even Weiss…. The latter's expression when they found out about her heritage and history was the one who made her grimace. Looking back at their past argument, perhaps she could have handled the situation differently, in a good way, of course. Now that they knew that she was used to be with the White Fang, if the group she was affiliated with, was nothing more than a bunch of criminals, what would that make of her?

A few seconds later, she only looked up towards the night sky with a melancholic look. "...Then I probably don't deserve to be with them anymore."

* * *

 **My new job is quite demanding, and I also need to consider of filing in my tax report for my future; so my update schedule is going to drastically change for all of my stories. Being adult sucks balls.**

 **As usual, please review! The way this story will go also depends on the constructive comments from you all! Ahsoei, over and out.**


	18. Of Runaways and Reunion (III)

**RWBY: The Redeemer**

* * *

 **Hello again, folks! I just watched Lion King earlier, and I've decided that I still prefer the original cartoon from 1994. Without further ado, onto the show!**

* * *

 **Beta-read by Starlight's Poet**

 **Chapter 17: Of Runaways and Reunion (III)**

Cinder Fall wanted to enjoy some rest and relaxation for the night.

She had finished her previous task and let her two subordinates to go free on their own, as long as they were to remain low-profile. She left her two subordinates behind on purpose, not wanting to listen to their incessant banters and arguments for the time being. Mercury and (especially) Emerald's loyalty had been ensured - at the very least they would not betray her anytime soon. The next job would not be until another few days; until then Cinder would like to enjoy herself, away from business, away from scheming, away from her subordinates, just herself and a good drink.

Make no mistakes, Cinder's mind was still set on the goal at Beacon Academy, her rightful prize was still hidden somewhere inside the huntsmen academy, waiting for her to reclaim it for her worthy self; there was no harm for her to enjoy herself for one night, after all, a good rest was still important before a long work.

She made her way towards the bar, which her latest business associate recommended her as a sign of 'good will'; a night club ran by one Hei 'Junior' Xiong. Of course, Cinder knew the club owner's reputation, but again, for tonight, she just wanted to enjoy herself. Junior could be a valuable asset, but his involvement was not something she required for the time being.

Looking at the long line in front of the entrance, Cinder gave a small scowl as she stared at the bouncer guarding the entrance. Growing a small smirk on her lips, she strode on the VIP line with a confident pose; and when the bouncer's eyes landed upon her, she gave her best smile and spread the hem of her red dress to reveal her creamy legs. Just as she expected, the bouncer, along with several patrons, only gaped at her body as she walked through the door after giving a sultry wink at the flustered guard. _Men, such a simple creature_.

Honestly speaking, the music was not to Cinder's liking, but she was in a good enough mood not to cause commotion. Blending easily enough through the dancing and partying crowds, she walked towards an empty seat at the bar. While waiting for the bartender to approach her, she gave a brief look-around at the collection of bottles on the shelf, taking her time to choose her poison for the night. When the bartender arrived, she had already made her choice. "The one on the middle, third from the right, please." She said with a suave tone.

The bartender smiled and nodded before going to pick her order. In the meantime, Cinder decided to observe her surroundings. Dark, large ballroom with blinking lights in various colours, deafening electro music with many unsuspecting people dancing into, men trying to foolishly woo women and the other way around… Cinder finally confirmed herself that she was more of a cafe-person rather than a club. She would have to have a chat with her business associate about his taste in 'relaxation'. When her drink finally arrived, she paused in her mid-sip when her eyes landed on a peculiar sight.

It was a young man in red coat; what caught Cinder's eyes first was a sword hilt poking out from behind his back - a huntsman. It should not have been an uncommon sight, but what caught her attention the most was the colour of his eyes.

During Cinder's days of training to survive the unforgiving world, she had received lessons and warnings about the existence of people possessing silver eyes - the bane of grimm, the keepers of balance, the hunters of old. Her master had beaten it into her that people with those eyes were _not_ to be ignored.

As far as Cinder was aware, those with silver eyes were scarce across Remnant, to the point that their existence was more akin to a myth. Hell, she even heard that the last known one had been 'eliminated' around a decade ago. Sure, there was one young girl that Cinder encountered a while back, but she was still too young to be a threat in her agenda. To find another one in Vale so suddenly? Not to mention, judging on his mature appearance, it was safe to assume that this one had been well-trained.

Cinder took a small sip before she twirl her glass around, swishing the liquor inside it as she contemplated her next step; should she leave? Was this man working for Vale, or just visiting huntsman from other kingdoms? How long had he been here, or how long would be here? More questions popped out in her mind as she watched her faint reflection on her glass.

 _Then again, nothing ventured, nothing gained_ \- with that in mind, Cinder raised up her hand towards the bartender. "Give the gentleman over there another glass of what he had, and put it on my tab."

Cinder then watched the unfolding proceedings - the man with silver eyes turned his gaze toward her and she lifted up her glass in invitation. Her smirk widened when she noticed him approaching her.

Truly, no rest for the wicked.

oXo

"So…. Cinder." Claude spoke after he made himself comfortable enough on the seat next to the woman. "Do you come here often?"

"As a matter of fact, no. My acquaintance recommended this place to me, and so far…" Cinder paused for a second to give the place another look-around. "It's not disappointing…. Much." the corner of her lips twitching upwards when she saw him scoffed in amused agreement with her. She then put one of her arms on the table for her head to lean on. "On the other hand, do _you_ come here often, Mr…?"

"Oh, forgive my manners." Claude put a hand on his chest. "Please, call me Sterling."

There was no reason to give your full name, or perhaps your real name towards a stranger in a bar, particularly if the stranger was putting you a bit on edge. For all Claude knew, 'Cinder' _might_ not be her real name either.

"...And as for your question, well, I only come here every now and then." Claude waved his hand around. "But you said this is your first time coming here, being recommended. Are you not from Vale?"

"I'm from Mistral. I came to Vale for the Vytal Festival." Cinder replied without missing a beat. She then tilted her head to take a peek at the sword on Claude's back. "...Are you a huntsman?"

"Yes, from Beacon Academy." Claude saw no point in lying on that one. However, before he could have asked his own question, Cinder had already beaten him to it.

"What is a huntsman doing here, along with his weapon? Should I feel concerned?" Cinder widened her smile slightly as she leaned forward a bit closer to Claude.

"Oh, please. There's no need to worry." Claude straightened up and held up his hand in peace. "This is just a habit of mine, when you're working as a huntsman long enough, paranoia becomes your friend."

"I guess I can see what you mean. One can never be too careful." Cinder leaned back and giggled into her hand in mild amusement.

Claude, however, could not help but notice that there was something behind those words, especially the look in her eyes when she said the last line. He then decided to move along with the conversation. "Speaking of, you said that you're here for the Vytal Festival. Are you by any chance, participating?"

Cinder took a sip from her drink before she leaned on her hand on the table, re-crossing her feet again. Claude had to admit, it was not that easy to keep his eyes on her eyes when her body was moving on her seat like that. "Hm…. Do I look like a combatant to you?" Cinder asked in teasing, perhaps more like mischievous tone.

Claude then leaned on the table, resting his chin on his palm as he exhaled, his eyes boring into Cinder for a few seconds, as if he was examining him. "I don't mean to imply anything, but…. Just by looking at you, I can tell that you're a woman who can look after herself."

"...Well said." Cinder's smirk widened as her eyes seemed to flare out; which unnerved Claude a bit, but for now, he would brush it off as a trick of light in the club. "I'm afraid I can't tell you the details of why I'm looking forward for the Vytal Festival, however. You'll have to see it for yourself." She said as she leaned away on her seat, straightening her back, before she finally downed her drink.

"Is it safe for me to assume that we'll run into each other again in future?" Claude also widened his smile while keeping his eyes at Cinder's.

"...Is it safe for me to assume that you're asking me out?" Cinder chose to fire the question back with some teasing laced on, as she leaned closer.

Claude would be lying if he said that he was not being caught off-guard. Still, he did not approach the woman for fooling around in the first place. Even with his eyes had stopped throbbing, his instinct was still telling him that something was off about her; and showing her that he was anxious did not seem to be a good choice.

"If it's with a lady like you, any guy would have a night to remember." Claude returned as he leaned closer as well.

The two did not do or say anything else as they kept staring into one another, in the midst of loud dancing, music and parties around them, within relative proximity, as if they were silently taunting each other to do something first. However, their moment ended when they noticed a tall figure was standing behind the bar. Claude and Cinder turned to see Junior was standing with his hands clasped in front of him - a professional pose of a bartender waiting for customers to call him. However, the way he stared at Claude, as well as a brief, narrowed glance at Cinder, were enough to say that he wanted to talk to the former.

Apparently, Cinder herself also found herself reaching for her scroll and read whatever appeared on its screen. "It has been a pleasure talking with you, Sterling, but I'm afraid I must go. There are some matters I need to attend." She waved her scroll in front of him for a second before pocketing it into her dress.

She got off from her stool, walked past Claude as she placed her hand on his shoulder. Claude kept his eyes from obviously narrowing when he felt the contact - a slight chill ran down his spine. "I'll see you around." She gave one final sly smile before she walked away and vanished into the crowd.

Claude stared at the crowd where Cinder had disappeared into for a few seconds before he returned to look at Junior, who was also staring at the same direction. When their eyes met, Junior then spoke, "I see that you still have the same taste in a woman; black hair, gorgeous and can take her drink… Does she remind you of someone?"

Claude lightly glared at Junior. "Didn't I pay you to give me information, not a relationship advice?"

"Easy now, there's actually something else I want to say to you." Junior put up his hands placatingly. "That woman earlier… One of my men claimed that he saw Roman talking with someone who has similar features as her." In return, Claude narrowed his eyes to ask for more explanation. "...Still, we have no conclusive proof since my man didn't have a clear visual, but judging from her looks and from the story, they're kind of similar. That's all I can give you about her…. And here's your order." Junior exhaled as he offered a piece of folded paper on the table.

The younger man stared at Junior for a second before he picked it up and gave it a quick read. A moment later, his eyes gained glistened in understanding as he looked up towards Junior and beckoned with his finger. The tall bartender quirked an eyebrow in confusion for a second before he understood when he saw Claude wiggling the paper in his hand. Sighing silently, Junior took the paper from Claude and picked out a lighter from his pocket, and proceeded to light up the paper to ash. After making sure that there was not a single speck of flare remained, Junior then returned to address Claude again, who was slipping out another couple of lien, presumably for the additional information about Cinder.

"That one is on the house. Call it a mutual interest, that woman just rubbed me the wrong way." Junior held up his hand, prompting Claude to smile and pocket the money back.

Downing his glass, Claude stood up and smiled at the club owner. "Then would you mind doing another favour to me and find more things about her?"

"Not that I mind, but depending on how things will go, I can't guarantee anymore freebie this time."

"Eh, worth a shot." Claude shrugged. "Still, just be careful when you're looking into her. Have a good night, Hei." He nodded and finally walked away.

As he watched Claude's retreating back, Junior scoffed in return, "Twenty years and you've forgotten that nobody calls me by my name; not 'Hei', not 'Xiong', not 'Hei Xiong', just 'Junior'!" In the midst of loud club music, however, all Junior received in return was simply Claude's waving hand before the man made his way out.

Junior sighed as he prepared himself to focus his attention on his job, when his twin bouncers approached him. Melanie in particular, was staring at the direction where Claude had gone off to. "You're surprisingly more hospitable towards that guy. Seriously, what's the story between you two?" Miltia asked.

In response, Junior only let out a silent groan as he ran his hand over his face in the strange mixture of amusement and exasperation.

* * *

It was later that night, back in Beacon, when Weiss suddenly snapped open her eyes on her bed. Staring at the sight of Ruby's bed suspended above her, she scowled at her failure to catch some sleep despite how late it was. Holding down a grumble, she woke up and ran her hand across her face, before she turned to have a look at the bed beside her.

As expected, Blake's bed remained empty, with Yang was asleep above it. Her partner, Ruby, was also out cold, thus leaving Weiss awake alone.

Heaving a sigh, she got off her bed and walked towards the door while putting on a small robe over her nightgown to protect her from the cold night air; perhaps a little stroll and a drink would help her to sleep the whole nonsense with Blake away. Going out of the room with her Scroll at hand, Weiss trekked through the halls until she arrived at common area, where students inside dormitories could get themselves some refreshments. She served herself a glass of water, and after enjoying the cool sensation down her throat, she sighed a few seconds later when she found that she was really alone while the others were sleeping. Unnerved by the quiet atmosphere inside the dormitories, Weiss proceeded to get out of the building, taking in the night air and started walking to distract herself.

Her feet brought her towards the training area, where she noticed the light inside one of the rooms was on. Blinking curiously, Weiss then took careful steps towards the training room, and when she took a peek, her eyes were met with the sight of a familiar man.

Sterling Cole was training at late night, clad in a white tank-top and a pair of black jersey. He was putting up a stance with his sword, and the heiress was impressed at the focus in his silver eyes, as he took a deep breath, letting out a breath that was visible if she looked carefully.

He then took a step forward and performed a diagonal slash, the move was swift, strong, and Weiss could have sworn that she felt a soft gale flowing when he swung that sword.

Then, for the next few minutes, the heiress witnessed Sterling repeating the same move again and again; he would regain his form, take a deep breath, and swing in a diagonal arc, before he returned to his stance again and so on. Regardless, Weiss noted that every step was taken with purpose, every movement was not wasted, and every swing caused the atmosphere itself to shift. If she were not mistaken, the form appeared to be an eastern swordsmanship, which she did not know much about in the contrast of her fencing style; however, she was still impressed at the display of discipline.

She was about to lean on the door frame to make herself more comfortable on her spot when Sterling suddenly spoke, "I honestly didn't think that you're the type who'd still awake at this late at night."

Weiss gasped as she subconsciously straightened herself up, just in time when Sterling relaxed and turned around to meet her eyes with his. "Can I help you, Weiss?" Sterling asked with an easy smile.

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt." Weiss apologized while inwardly chastising herself for the stuttering.

"Don't worry, you're not interrupting." He waved it off as he walked towards the corner, where his towel and drinks laid. He wiped the sweat around his head before speaking up again. "...But seriously, is something wrong?"

Weiss went silent for a second, before she schooled her features and gave Claude an amiable smile. "There's nothing wrong, sir."

Claude stared at the heiress for a few seconds. "...I see. Then has Blake returned yet?"

Then, Weiss' expression went into a scowl as she averted her gaze away. In response, Claude only gave a faint hum, "Well, that's not exactly 'nothing wrong', is it?" He said.

"I am sure that Blake is more than capable to look after herself, considering her... _allegiance_." Weiss retorted.

Claude caught what Weiss was implying, but he chose to play it off. "Weiss, just because someone is a student of huntsmen academy, doesn't mean that it's impossible for anything to happen."

"She's been hiding facts from us! Like the fact that she used to be with the White Fa-!" Weiss blurted in a burst of anger before she stopped herself with a panicked expression. When Claude raised his eyebrows at her outburst, Weiss looked away with shame on her face.

"White Fang? Would you mind explaining that bit?" Claude asked with am easy tone.

Weiss closed her eyes and took a breath. Despite how dire the situation about Blake for her team, she had no intention to let this particular matter out in the open, at least not yet when Ruby and Yang still wanted to learn about everything, which had a merit. Now that a teacher found out thanks to her moment of weakness, Weiss might as well come clean. At the very least, she hoped that Sterling would give her team some time to sort everything out before any drastic measure were to be taken.

Thus, Weiss began to talk about what had happened, particularly about her argument with Blake about White Fang's agenda, and the revelation of Blake's affiliation before Beacon.

"I see…." Claude nodded simply, having heard the story from Weiss' perspective. "Now, what do you all want to do about it?"

Weiss blinked; she honestly hoped that the man before him would shed some light, to give advice or instruction to save her team the trouble. However, when she saw his silver eyes boring into hers, she looked down in thought; _is this some kind of test?_

"I…" Weiss spoke after a minute of contemplating, before she looked up to meet Claude eye to eye. "No, we will find her. Blake has so many things to answer to us."

Claude blinked; his eyes were a tad wider as he did not expect Weiss' answer, considering her general attitude, as well as the history shared between the Schnee family and the White Fang…. Or perhaps faunus majority in general. "...Despite the possibility of what Blake is truly standing with?"

"I admit that I was upset when I learned that Blake was once a part of bunch of criminals…" Weiss then paused for a second to process her own thoughts. "...But I have to learn everything Blake needs to say about herself. I believe that's what a huntress should do."

Now Claude was pleasantly surprised - perhaps Weiss' time with team RWBY had done some good for her character. "I have to say that I wasn't expecting such an answer from you of all people, Ms. Schnee." He said while smiling, deliberately addressing her with her surname. "What makes you came with that answer?"

If Weiss was offended by that remark, she did not show it. "I won't deny that my family hasn't been kind toward Faunus… But that's the reason why I came to Beacon in the first place; I want to make both humans and faunus alike know that Schnee family are not merely a bunch of gold-diggers who only care about profits."

Sheltered as she might be, Weiss Schnee was aware of how society viewed her family and SDC in general. Unfortunately, not all of them were good. White Fang's assault on her company's assets and properties only reinforced people's belief about SDC's reputation towards faunus ever since her father came into power.

She was not so blind to pin all the blame towards the faunus and the White Fang, but at the same time, she also believed that the White Fang had no right to do as they pleased, just because they were wronged.

Perhaps she had said too far about the monkey Faunus who stowed his way into the ship illegally, but what could she say? Rules are to be adhered, after all. And that was why, even she was initially upset after knowing about Blake's background, she would not stoop so low by condemning her actions without listening to reason. She and her team would find her, and they would have a _very_ long talk.

Weiss was soon snapped out of her reverie when she heard someone's chuckle. She looked up to see Sterling gradually grew to laugh. "Hahahahaha!"

Weiss furrowed her eyebrows at the outburst, when Claude raised up his hand after calming himself down. "Sorry, I didn't mean to mock you or anything. In fact, it appears that I've been underestimating your character." He then put a hand over his chest and gave a knightly bow. "Please forgive my unsightly display."

Weiss blinked in surprise, finding herself flattered at the gesture. Back in Atlas, there were many men who would show similar gestures in order to impress her and her family, but at the moment, she found the tone from Sterling to sound so genuine. Seeing someone on his calibre to apologize to her, she had to admit that she was caught off-guard. "Please, raise your head, sir. I'm not that upset to begin with." She managed to keep her tone calm. "Rather, I'd like to thank you for listening to me. I feel much better now."

"If that's all for tonight, you should go back to sleep." Claude straightened himself up before he walked away to pick up his supplies. He then walked past Weiss as he left the training room, not without giving one last glance at Weiss. "If it's worth anything…. I promise you that everything will be alright."

Weiss stared at Claude's retreating figure until he vanished at one corner, before she took a breath and smiled to herself. The night air felt pleasant as she trekked back to her room.

* * *

Sunday morning came, and inside one of Beacon's workshops, Claude was smiling in satisfaction at his latest work.

The metal had cooled off and its durability had met the intended standard, the gears required for the transformation feature were rotating without a hitch, the chambers inside the shield had the optimal size for his sword. Claude nodded in approval as he tested his newly repaired Shatter Storm, perhaps it would not be far-fetched to call it Mk. II, considering the added dust chamber, but for the time being he would just call it as usual.

Settling the sword and shield combo on his back, Claude was ready to face the day when he realised that Ruby was not with him. He frowned a bit, he had promised Ruby to show her the finished work, but she told him that she was busy for the day - which he assumed that it was about her missing teammate, and could not come to have a look. Nevertheless, now that he had geared up, Claude just needed to believe himself that everything would work out…. Of course, he had to make one or two calls about what most likely would go down that night.

Stepping out of the workshop, Claude walked towards his next destination when he ran into a particular sight.

It was Yang; she was clad in her usual outfit and there were a couple of men trying to talk to her - keyword: _trying_. Yang's face and body language were clear that she was not in any mood to deal with them, and her creasing eyebrows was enough telling that it would not take long until she decided to let her fist to do the talking.

Seeing that things were about to escalate in a bad way, Claude immediately approached them, putting his hand on Yang's shoulder. "Yang?" the aforementioned girl blinked and turned to see the man who laid his hand on her, but she immediately relaxed when her lilac orbs were met with a pair of familiar silver. "...Sorry to interrupt, but a word, if you don't mind?" He said as if he had an official teacher-student business with the blonde, while casting a quick glance at the boys.

Now that Claude got a closer look, the boys looked a bit younger than he expected. Obviously they were from senior years, considering team JNPR and RWBY were the only first-years; which made it safe to assume that the boys were part of the second year students. The first boy looked a bit annoyed at his interference and was about to retort when his partner, another boy quickly tapped his arm with an alarmed look on his face. "Hey, that's the new teacher!" he whispered audible enough for him and Yang to hear.

The boys suddenly looked apprehensive as soon as they learned Claude's position, remembering the beatdown he had given to three members of team AERO, a team of veteran students. Without another word, the boys gave a quick nod before they walked away in hasty manner.

Claude waited until the boys had walked far enough before he heaved a small sigh and turned to address Yang. "...Friends of yours?"

Yang gave a sigh that was close enough to be heard more like a scoff. "Seniors by one year back in Signal. We used to talk from time to time." She then threw a small smile at him. "Thanks for the help, but I got that covered."

"If 'covered' means starting a fight in the hallway, then I'm glad that I butted in." Claude replied with his own easy smile, eliciting a remorseless snort from the blonde. "...Seriously, though. What's with those two?" He asked while looking toward the direction where the two boys disappeared.

This time, Yang scoffed. "Just trying to find a chance to get a feel on me, probably trying to score a night with me in town; saying that they wanted to help me find Blake… The nerve of those guys."

"Is that so…?" Claude found himself giving a narrow-eyed glare at the direction the boys just went to.

Yang blinked at his face, did not really expect the reaction from him. Then, she took a glance at his back. "...Looks like you got your shield back." Her lilac eyes trailed on the weapon on his back.

His ire from earlier was suddenly forgotten, as a smile grew on his face, "Yep." Claude replied with an audible 'p'.

"...And I thought you promised Ruby to show this?" Yang asked with a quirked eyebrow.

"I did…" Claude sighed a little. "But she was in a hurry when I invited her, so I guess I can show her later. Speaking of, you're not with her?"

Before Yang could have replied, however, they were interrupted by a familiar voice. "Yang, there you are!" they both turned to see Ruby and Weiss approaching them. "Come on, we're burning daylight to find Blake!"

Then, Ruby paused when she saw the familiar man, and she suddenly looked flustered; a shade of pink suddenly adorned her cheeks as she could not bring herself to meet Claude's eyes. At her niece's strange behaviour, Claude only blinked in confusion, with Yang looking amused and Weiss rolling her eyes. "Ruby? Something wrong?"

In response, Weiss jabbed Ruby's side with her elbow, prompting her to let out a faint yelp and saw Weiss gesturing with her chin towards him. "Oh, um…! Nothing, nothing at all! We're just, err… going out! Yeah, to do a team thing!"

Weiss only shook her head with a face-palm while Yang sighed quietly in amusement at Ruby's blabbering. Claude only stared impassively at his niece for a few seconds until he spoke, "...Y'know, I should've said this earlier, but if you girls have some trouble looking for your teammate, you can report to the teachers and have a search party sent out to help."

Ruby, Weiss and Yang visibly blinked at the information; they glanced at Claude for a second before they glanced at one another.

"In fact, yes-!"

"No."

Weiss and Ruby paused when they realised they were contradicting each other simultaneously, before the former glared at the latter. "Ruby, Mr. Cole is right! In fact, we should have done this from the start! This problem has been going far enough!"

Ruby was flustered; on one hand, having a teacher helped them to find Blake would be better than asking the police, but on the other hand, if Blake's secret were to leak out towards Beacon Academy staff, she did not dare to imagine the repercussion that would come after. She turned to look at Yang, silently begging for input, but the older girl only shrugged, unsure herself. After a split second of thinking, Ruby came up with a compromise. "Then… Maybe _Sterling_ here can help us out…?" she made sure to emphasize his name to imply that he alone should have helped them. It was perhaps a stupid plan, but that was all Ruby could come up within short period of time.

Claude then found himself being surrounded by three pairs of eyes. He glanced at all of them, considering his options. His answer was quite obvious; he knew where Blake would most likely be by night. "...Sure, I don't mind."

The girls visibly lighten up, even Weiss appeared to be slightly more relaxed. "Oh, thank you so much!" Ruby said with clasped hands. Yang also gave a light jab at Claude's arm, prompting him to turn and see her nodding with a grateful smile.

Then, when Ruby's eyes finally caught on the contraption on his back, she gasped. "...And you got your shield back!" As expected, Ruby automatically used her Semblance to make her way behind Claude, staring at the weapon as if in reverence.

"Yeah, Shatter Storm is back in action." Claude smiled in amusement at Ruby's giddiness. "...And since I didn't let you see its completion, want to test it out later?"

Ruby gasped again at the offer, "Oh, canIcanIcanIcanIcanIcanI!?" Her face was practically a few centimetres away from his.

Claude only laughed at Ruby's exuberance, as he gently pushed her head away. "Hahaha! Easy there, short stack. Let's focus on finding your friend first, okay?"

Ruby only nodded before she quickly addressed her team. "Right! Let's go, everyone! We have a teammate to find!" She quickly dashed towards the exit, followed by Claude and the rest of team RWBY.

As they walked, Weiss scooted closer towards Yang. "Say, Yang…" the heiress whispered, "Don't you think your sister and Mr. Cole have been… spending an awful lot of time lately?"

Yang glanced at Weiss, before she returned her gaze at the two people ahead of her. "So you notice as well, huh? I'm also starting to think that they're…. Inseparable - no, _almost_ inseparable." She corrected the last word.

"Who wouldn't?" Weiss retorted. "I mean, like earlier; Mr. Cole just invited Ruby again to play with his weapons again. A bit not teacher-like, don't you think?"

"He's probably just glad to find another weapon nerd, Sterling's hobby is not too different than Rube's, and he's pretty close to our age." Yang shrugged, although her eyes did not leave the two at the front. "Besides, Ruby's happy, and Sterling doesn't seem the type who will try anything funny on a fifteen year-old, so I won't judge… yet." Her lilac eyes narrowed slightly at the last word.

"Still, I don't think that's how a teacher should carry himself. It's as if he's giving Ruby some kind of… special treatment." Weiss narrowed her eyes skeptically.

This time, Yang's eyes blinked before she shook her head slightly. "Um, didn't he sponsor Jaune to stay in Beacon despite the forged papers? Hell, I heard he's been helping team JNPR training from time to time."

"That's one exception, a special case; and the arrangement was eventually given fairly on the entire team." Weiss retorted. "Ruby's case is another exception for one person, which I still find odd… And that's not all." Weiss added. "Around last week, I saw him helping Ruby out on her homework in the library."

"Really? But isn't that one of the teacher's jobs to help students out?" This time, Yang's eyes grew an intrigued look.

"Once for one subject, it's understandable. But the thing is, he's been helping her on her history and grimm studies for a few days until I called her out." Weiss replied. "Not to mention that Ruby claimed that Mr. Cole kept approaching her first."

"Is that so…?" Yang gave a thoughtful look, before she shook her head. "...Y'know what? Let's focus on finding Blake first, then we can worry about Ruby's 'forbidden romance', sounds cool?"

Weiss simply gave a silent nod as the two of them followed Ruby and Claude.

* * *

"Welp, this is the day…"

At the harbour, Sun and Blake were still perched on their vantage point, overlooking the numerous crates around the docks. If the information Claude had procured for them was on spot, today or tonight would be the moment of truth whether the White Fang was the one behind the robberies. The monkey faunus sat on one of the crates while handing Blake a tuna sandwich which he had gotten his hands on… which he definitely did not steal as well. "Any news from your teacher?"

"None so far." Blake looked down from her position, but she soon affirmed her resolve. "...But it doesn't matter. We'll get to the bottom of this with or without him."

"You know, for all we know, he's probably reporting what we are doing to the teachers at Beacon." Sun said as he took a bite of a banana which he got for himself.

Blake paused while she was in the middle of eating her sandwich. "...It won't be a problem." She would be lying if she said she was not worried, but she somehow knew that Claude would not easily betray her trust, not when she also got a dirt on him.

"...If you say so." Sun shrugged few seconds later. "...Still, speaking of him, there's something that's been bugging me a bit about the guy."

Blake blinked and glanced at the boy beside her; her look prompted Sun to continue. "I don't know about you, but…. For some reason, I feel that I've seen him somewhere… a long time ago. He just looks kind of familiar."

"You probably saw him somewhere before you came to Vale." Blake returned her attention back to the docks. "...Let's focus on our objective now."

oXo

"Blaaake!"

"Blaake, where are you?!"

In the middle of downtown Vale, the rest three of RWBY and Claude were walking together as the two sisters screamed the name of their objective. The three girls were walking ahead while Claude was silently walking behind them.

"Weiss, Sterling, why are you not helping?!" Ruby turned to the aforementioned two.

Before Weiss could have replied, Claude had beaten her to it. "No offence, Ruby. But I think screaming her name out loud will only alert her of our presence."

"Exactly!"

Ignoring Ruby's retort, Claude carried on. "...Then again, Blake ran away in the first place because she didn't want to see us, didn't she?"

"You know, we can still report this mess to the authorities." Weiss quipped.

"Weiss!" Ruby shouted with admonishing tone, glaring at the heiress, who did not back down as she met Ruby's silver eyes with her icy ones.

"Come on, Weiss." Yang intervened to keep things calm. "I think we should just find Blake and listen to her side of the story."

"...And I think Weiss' hair looks wonderful today!"

Claude blinked at the new, unfamiliar voice, as he and the rest of team RWBY turned around to see a young girl with a short, slightly curly orange hair. "Penny?!" Ruby cried in recognition.

"It is good to see you again, friend Ruby!" Penny greeted with a bright smile before she turned to regard Claude. "...And it seems you bring a new friend along!"

Claude blinked a couple of times at the girl - Penny, who offered her hand in greeting. "It is a pleasure to meet you, I'm Penny Polendina!"

"Sterling Cole, the pleasure is mine." Claude automatically shook her hand with a smile on his own face as well.

However, when his hand grasped Penny's, Claude noticed something; the electromagnetic waves that his body was unconsciously emitting, had picked some signal of metallic structure under Penny's clothes - no, her _skin_. He blinked as he froze for a second, his eyes darting between the shared handshake and Penny's oblivious expression. _Prosthetic arm?_ But more importantly, Claude's magnetic wave did not only pick the signal from Penny's arm alone, Claude could sense the signal from her entire person. _What's with this girl?_

"I did not see you when I met friend Ruby for the first time." Penny remarked.

"'Friend Ruby', huh?" Claude glanced at his niece with a teasing smile, eliciting a flustered face from her, and he returned his gaze at Penny, who was beaming at him.

"Yes! She called me her friend when we met two days ago, it was sensational!"

Claude found himself chuckling at Penny's cheerful disposition, "Well, I'm glad that you are friends with my students. I hope you will get along with her for a long run." He said with a small bow of his head.

The three girls of team RWBY watched curiously at the interaction between their interim-teacher and the bubbly girl, the said latter seemed surprised at the revelation of the man's position. "Oh, dear! My deepest apologies, I did not know that you're a teacher, sir!" Penny said as she covered her mouth with her hands.

"Hahaha! It's fine; to be fair, I'm still a teacher in training." Claude waved off with a laugh. "So, Penny. Are you from Vale? Because I've never seen you around Beacon."

Straightening herself up, Penny put her smile back on. "No, sir. I am from Atlas; arrived on Vale for the Vytal Festival!"

 _Atlas, the most technologically-advanced Kingdom on Remnant, that's another food for thought_ \- Claude thought as he took in Penny's words. "I see. Well, we have someone to look for, so we'll see you around Penny. Have a good time on Vale and Beacon." Claude said as he turned around. When Claude walked a few steps, he then noticed that the three girls were still looking at something behind him. He then turned around to see Penny was still on his tail. "Um… Penny? Is there anything else?"

"I'd like to help!" Penny simply replied with her ever-present smile. "On that note, who are you looking for?"

"We're looking for our friend - Blake." Yang ended up replying before Claude could have retorted on Penny's offer.

"Oh, you mean the Faunus girl?" Penny replied with tilted head.

"Err, how did you know about that?" Ruby asked with a quirked eyebrow. Yang, Weiss, even Claude also stared at Penny with curious eyes.

"Her feline ears, of course!" Penny replied as if it was obvious.

"What do you mean cat ears? Blake wears a bo-... oh." Yang's retort died in her mouth when she put the two and two together.

"Well, she does like to eat a lot of tuna." Ruby remarked. Claude only shrugged, conceding with Penny's point, but his lack of reaction about Blake's heritage did not go unnoticed by Weiss.

"So, where is she?" Penny's question snapped everyone out of their reverie.

"We don't know. She's been missing since Friday." Ruby said with a condescended look.

"That's terrible!" Penny immediately looked apprehensive and Claude found her blitzed her way towards Ruby, grabbing her shoulders. "Don't worry, Ruby, my friend! I shall not rest until you find your teammate!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Easy there for a second." Claude quickly came to intervene; while he could appreciate Penny's gesture and character, involving a stranger was something he would rather avoid. He knew where Blake was, and he had a plan how he could settle everything without involving Ruby and Yang in danger, as well as ensuring Blake's safety; but Penny's involvement could potentially jeopardise his plan.

He stepped in between Ruby and Penny, gently removing the latter's grab on the former. "Look, Penny. Your help is appreciated, but you don't have to go all your way out to help us like this. The situation is completely under control, right girls?" Claude turned his head slightly to address his charges, but he heard no reply. "...Girls?" When he turned around, he found the spot where Ruby, Yang and Weiss had been standing on, to be empty. He then looked around to scan the crowd, only to find that the girls had completely left the area without him knowing.

On one hand, Claude was mildly impressed at the girls' stealth, but on the other hand, Claude was vexed that he had been left alone to deal with Penny, who all with her cheerful demeanor was still a bit too off for a normal girl. He silently sighed in resignation as he turned back to Penny, who was still smiling innocently at him.

 _Well, no plans survive on contact with an enemy_.

* * *

Some distance away - Ruby, Yang and Weiss finally stopped running as soon as they had confirmed that they were out of Claude's range of senses. "Well, that happened." the blonde commented.

"Guys, I think we shouldn't have left Sterling alone back there." Ruby commented with slightly guilty expression. "I mean, Penny is… okay, but shouldn't we let him know where we are?"

"I'm sure that we would have to split up to cover more ground sooner or later." Weiss put in her two-cents. She felt bad, but she honestly finding Blake was still more important than dealing with a stranger. "Mr. Cole is a capable adult. He knows how to deal with that girl, he will find us soon enough, and in the meantime, we can continue our search for Blake."

"What she said." Yang said in approval as she put her hand on Ruby's shoulder. "Come on, Sterling will be fine. We still have to find Blake."

As Yang and Weiss began to walk, Ruby took one last look towards the direction where she and her team had left their teacher earlier, then she decided to continue her search for one Blake Belladonna.

* * *

Gotta say, work has been quite demanding and I'm considering to switch job; at least changing my shift. Nevermind that, please review! No flames, please! Ahsoei, over and out.


	19. Of Runaways and Reunion (IV)

**RWBY: The Redeemer**

* * *

 **What's up folks! Here's the new chapter, perhaps you can say it's the finale for volume 1 events. Anyway, my work and visa are being a pain to me, so I'm glad that I can still update this. Onto the show!**

* * *

 **Beta-read by Starlight's Poet**

 **Chapter 18: Of Runaways and Reunion (IV)**

"You look rather young to be a teacher, if I may say so."

The day went on and the sun began its descent to horizon, as Claude and Penny were walking together across the downtown with the latter eyeing the former with curious eyes. "No problem, Penny. I get that a lot from people." Claude shrugged with an easy-going smile. "Not long after I graduated from Beacon, Ozpin scouted me and I took the offer. Currently I'm still a teacher in training." It was definitely not a lie, since that was more or less what happened. "So I heard you're from Atlas? While I won't judge how you want to spend your free time, why are you not with your own team?" Claude took his turn to ask.

"I gained permission to come here early. I just want to look around the town." She replied easily enough.

Claude simply hummed in understanding. Since the year's Vytal Festival would be held in Vale, some representatives of the other Kingdoms would be seen around Vale and Beacon early; usually to secure the best spare rooms in the student dorms, or perhaps, to scout the competition. Then, he eyed Penny again, remembering the particular feeling when he shook hands with her. "Say, if you don't mind me asking, is your hand a prosthetic by any chance?"

Penny visibly winced at the question. "...Why do you think of that?" Signs of nervousness began to appear on her expression.

Claude quickly put up his arms defensively. "Look, I won't pry if you don't want to say, but call it experience; it's just…. Your hand felt kind of too tough, even for a well-trained huntress. No offence."

"N-none taken, sir." Penny shook her head. Claude caught a small hint of panic in her tone. "My hand is… Hic! A normal hand! Yes, hic! A well trained, strong hand, with aura, hic!"

Claude simply stared at the obvious signs and hiccups. "Are you okay there? That's a lot of hiccups. You want a drink, maybe?"

"N-no, I'm- Hic! Fine!" Penny seemed struggling her hardest to stop hiccuping. "There is- hic! Nothing wrong with me! I am fully hydrated as a healthy human should be!"

Now Claude felt bad for pushing the topic, seeing the girl trying so hard to cover what appeared as her personal matters. Finally, he chose to nod and returned his eyes to the front, despite Penny was being even more 'off' that he thought. "...Okay, then."

"That is fine." Penny replied with a nod. This time, Claude caught the relief in her tone. "So…. Are there issues between Ms. Blake and team RWBY?"

Whether Penny asked to change the topic or because of genuine concern, Claude chose to answer her. "You can say that. Things are kind of complicated between them."

"I see, are Ms. Ruby, Weiss and Yang mad at Ms. Blake?" Penny asked again.

Claude looked up in thought. "Hmm…. I say Weiss is _a little_ mad, though I can't say about Ruby and Yang." He then shrugged. "...Eh, things are gonna be fine, I reckon. It's just normal dramas between girls their age."

"Oh, I've read it in books during my stay in Atlas! Is this what people call 'teenage drama troupe'?" Penny asked with an excited tone.

Claude blinked at the girl in amusement before he gave a short giggle. "Yeah, close enough."

Penny gave a pleased nod before she hummed in thought again. "...Still, I do wish that they will stay friends."

Claude glanced at Penny and a smile grew on his lips. "Thanks for the concern, Penny. But things will be fine. They're actually getting along better than we thought." However, he could not help but to think the word, 'maybe' after he said those words. "...In fact, once they meet up, I'll make sure they will talk, make up and go back to the wholesome team they're supposed to be." Claude said, inwardly reassuring himself as well.

"Sounds sensational!" Penny cheered. "...Come to think of it, where are we going? What are we going to do now? Are we still looking for Ms. Blake?"

 _Ah_ \- Claude blinked. He was supposed to be doing some damage control in case things went south. While he appreciated Penny's offer to help, he was as reluctant as team RWBY to involve a stranger. Then again, looking back at their short interaction, Penny was unlikely a type of person who would be easily discouraged with words.

Fortunately, Claude came up with an idea already, "So, you still want to help?" When the girl nodded enthusiastically, Claude then carried on. "Okay, I need you to do something for me. Can you go to Beacon Academy?"

Penny's eyes lit up, "I see…. Am I to request a back-up, like a search-party?"

Claude hummed in thought for a second before replying, "Well, close enough. But I'd like you to relay a message from me to these men." He then whipped out his Scroll and showed the image of his friends. "The one with green hair is Doctor Oobleck, and the one with a mustache is Professor Port. Alternatively, you can talk to either the Headmaster or Deputy Headmistress - Professor Goodwitch if you run into them. Can you do that?"

Penny then smiled in determination. "I will not fail you, sir."

"Good girl." Claude smiled in approval. "Okay, then listen carefully. Tell them…"

* * *

The night had eventually come; Blake remained vigilant on top of one of the crates overseeing the docks. True to Claude's information, the Dust shipment from SDC had made its way to Vale, and now she only needed to wait for the moment of truth. The ideal scenario would be, the White Fang would not show up, or at least the heist would be attempted by other faction, thus Blake had a proof that her old affiliates were not as bad as Weiss deemed to be. However, as her prone form watching the night, she could not shake the grim feeling off her chest.

Then, she heard someone landed behind her. She turned at the much appreciated distraction in the form of Sun Wukong who had several fruits in his arms. "Anything up?" the blonde faunus asked as he crouched next to her.

"The Dust has arrived, but nothing yet so far." Blake simply replied.

"I see. Here, I got us some food." Sun replied as he offered an apple to the girl.

Blake glanced at the offered food before she turned her eyes back at Sun. "You got these food legally, right?"

"Err… no problem came up." Sun said as he averted his gaze away, which was telling enough for Blake.

"...Do you always break the law without giving a second thought?" Blake asked with a quirked eyebrow.

"Weren't you in a cult or something?" Sun snipped back, and he immediately looked sheepish when he earned a pouty glare from Blake in return. "Okay, too soon." He remarked for himself.

However, their small moment was interrupted with a gust of wind, followed by the sound of roaring engines. They looked up to follow the noise and were greeted by the sight of a bullhead hovering above the docks. They watched the aircraft landed, and a group of people came out from the hangar door.

"Oh, no…" Blake muttered in horror as she recognised those people; they were wearing a black and white uniform, a grimm mask, with a White Fang insignia on their backs; not to mention their animal traits.

"So… I take it's them?" Sun asked as he noticed the sudden change on his companion.

"Yes… It's them." Blake replied with a resigned tone, as she watched the members of White Fang began to deploy their weapons and equipment for the heist.

Sun watched the White Fang began to surround the Dust crate, and he noticed that Blake remained silent, he then saw a conflicted look on her face, mixed with a hint of disbelief. "Blake, are you okay?"

"Deep down, I knew…" Blake replied, her eyes were closed as she despaired. "I always know that the White Fang is no longer the same organisation that I used to believe in… I just don't want it to be true."

However, both teenagers were snapped out of their musings when they heard a new voice, "Hey, what's the hold up?!"

oXo

Roman frowned as he marched out from the bullhead. His critical eyes scanned around the group of Faunus who, in his perspective, were slacking off. Sure, they might have had their aura unlocked, but they were not properly trained yet, making them only decent enough to endure some punishment when local authorities, with some huntsmen and huntresses got the wind of their operation.

"We are not exactly the most inconspicuous bunch of thieves at the moment, so why don't you all pick up the pace?!" He barked orders at the Faunus. Seriously, he just wanted to finish the heist, fulfilling the quota for the night, and lay low with a good tobacco and drink; and he was still wondering how he ended up working with the White Fang - neither of them liked each other, this kind of combination would only hinder an effective and efficient robbery.

A few minutes of working, Roman had to resist the urge to groan as one of the White Fang brought him a rope. Even with a glance, Roman could tell that the rope was nowhere nearly enough to hold the entire crate of SDC Dust when they had to carry it away with the bullhead. _Amateurs, all of them_ \- "No, you idiot! This isn't the leash!"

However, Roman was soon interrupted when someone suddenly landed behind him and placed a black blade before his throat. "What the- Oh, for fuck's sake…" He rolled his eyes as a young woman in black glared at him in warning, before she addressed the rest of his subordinates.

"Nobody move!" The girl shouted, pressing the blade a little closer into his jugular, causing the surrounding White Fang to stop on their tracks.

"Whoa, take it easy, little lady." Meanwhile, Roman still kept his calm during the entire ordeal. It was not the first time for him to be held hostage, but it was certainly the first time for him to be held hostage by someone so young. He only hoped that Neo was not watching, otherwise she would never live it down.

However, his real problem was - that White Fang had no love for humans like him. Soon, the ones surrounding them began to think that they would lose nothing for letting him die, and they began to close in. Fortunately, the girl pulled off something else; she reached the black bow on her head, tearing them off to reveal a pair of cat ears. "Brothers of the White Fang, why are you aiding this scum!?"

As soon as Roman learned her real heritage, as well as hearing what came from her mouth, Roman narrowed his eyes as he exhaled silently. The way she talked - most likely she was a deserter; perhaps she was once a member when White Fang was still a peaceful group. Roman had seen her eyes everywhere before; the eyes of naive Faunus girl who thought the White Fang were fighting for the sake of their race. Perhaps for only a little, Roman kind of pitied her.

Nevertheless, it was time to give her a rain check. "Oh, kid… Didn't you get the memo?"

The girl turned her glare to him. "What are you talking about?"

Roman could not help but smirk. "The White Fang and I are going in on a joint business venture together."

"Tell me what it is or I'll put an end to your little operation." The girl's threat almost made him scoff.

Then, at the same moment, more gust of wind and the sound of engines were heard from the sky, and everyone looked up to see two more bullheads hovering. "I won't call it a little operation…." Roman retorted, as he used the moment of distraction to reposition his Melodic Cudgel's muzzle on the ground near the girl's feet, and pulled the trigger.

oXo

Boom!

Claude looked up when he was on his trek on the Vale streets after sending Penny away to Beacon. Originally, he planned to regroup with the rest of team RWBY, making sure that they were going back to Beacon or at least further away from the docks, and rejoin Blake and Sun. However, that plan was shot down when he heard an explosion, followed by the sight of black smoke rising up from the direction of the docks.

"Oh, shit…." Claude cursed - the commotion would definitely attract attention, like from his nieces for example. His best bet at the moment was to quickly join the fray before any real damage could be done.

Claude Rose then made a dash towards the docks.

oXo

The flow of the fight had gone very wrongly, with nothing but _one move_. Blake grimaced as she tried to get back on her feet.

The confrontation with Torchwick and the White Fang was going well enough - as well as she could have hoped. The White Fang goons were not too difficult with her and Sun's combat skills, but Torchwick was the real problem; perhaps she should have seen it coming, but the crook was more formidable than she thought. It took the combined efforts between Sun and her to push him back, and Torchwick just had to drop a dangling large crate on them and broke their formation.

After managing to barely avoid from being crushed, Blake stood back up and saw Torchwick had pointed his weapon at the still-down Sun, whom was a tad too late to regain his bearings.

"Nothing too personal, kid." Roman said neutrally as he prepared to pull the trigger, only to find himself being caught off-guard by a red-blur. When he got a better look of what happened, Roman scowled at the sight of red-cloaked girl whose hand was grabbing the collar of the monkey boy's shirt.

"Blake!" Ruby Rose called out with relieved expression on her face. "The cavalry is here! Thank goodness you're alright!" She then only noticed the boy she just saved. "Wait, who are you? Aren't you the stow-away from the other day?"

"Yeah, 'sup. The name's Sun." the boy casually replied with a grin. "Thanks for the save, by the way."

Not to mention, Roman also noticed that two others - white and yellow, were making a quick work on the White Fang foot soldiers around the docks. "Leave my partner and sister alone!" The girl in yellow bellowed as she punched the daylights out of the White Fang left and right.

"The White Fang?! Can someone tell me what's going on?!" The girl in white shouted in frustration, as she slid on a conjured glyph in high speed and took down multiple opponents in a matter of seconds.

"Well, this night is just getting better and better." He remarked sarcastically.

At least there was a silver lining, the White Fang who were still on the air knew that the operation had been blown; not to mention, the explosion that Roman caused by his weapon had definitely alerted the authorities - It's time for a tactical retreat.

Ruby turned and her eyes met with Roman's. The thief then sent her a cocky smirk, "Hello, little red, we meet again. Isn't this past your bed-time?"

At Roman's mocking tone, Ruby only glared, which Roman found to be adorable rather than intimidating - _honestly, her mother could have done better_. "Shame that I have to cut this meeting short again, but at least let's end this night with a bang, yeah?" He saluted as one of the bullheads landed behind him, while the other two hovering above with their mounted guns trained on the students.

"Uh-oh." Sun could not help but remark, even the rest of the Beacon students were looking alarmed at the firepower looming over them.

Roman kept his smirk as he turned and walked towards the open door of the bullhead, all while the sounds of relentless gunshots started to echo through the night. He turned his head enough to see the children manoeuvring around to evade the bullets tearing on the ground; while the remaining White Fang members were stumbling around to avoid friendly fire. Roman scoffed at the sight before continuing to walk away.

Meanwhile, team RWBY and Sun were trying their hardest to evade the hail of bullets raining down on them. Weiss chose to run towards Blake, conjured her glyph to shield them from the bullets; Yang quickly dove inside one of the warehouses to shelter herself from the rain fire, even then the warehouse's exterior could only protect her for a short time; Ruby decided to take Sun again with her and used her Semblance to get away from the line of fire, towards one of the crates to hide themselves. From behind her cover, Ruby looked around the unfolding chaos and her silver eyes managed to spot Torchwick, who was closing in towards the last bullhead.

When Roman turned and met his gaze with Ruby's, he gave one last smirk and gave her a mocking gesture of farewell, before heading back to the hangar. He had a job to do; he had an inkling that the kids might going to survive, but otherwise, he did not care that much. Summer was dead, her brother had so even earlier, _might as well reunite the entire family together_ \- Roman thought as he let out a humourless snort.

However, when Roman stepped into the hangar and his aircraft began its ascend, he suddenly heard a 'boom'. He turned around and his eyes widened, seeing a streak of lightning tore through the aligning two bullheads that were supposed to cover his retreat.

"Whoa!"

"Did you see that?!"

"What is that!?"

The students below were also surprised at the unexpected development, every single one of them were watching in awe at the sheer firepower that took down the bullheads.

Roman on the other hand, had a jaw-dropping expression on his face as the aircrafts went down in flames. "What the fuck…?"

oXo

Claude smiled in satisfaction as he kept his Mjolnir Mk. II up for a couple of seconds before lowering it down, a smoke still came out from its muzzle. Truly, he had to give it to Peter; the material used on the gun, as well as its modification, had allowed him to test out his latest move; he created two parallel electric currents produced by his Semblance on either side of his hand - first current went towards his palm where his gun laid, and the second current went back to his body, with the fully loaded Mjolnir Mk. II served as the bridge between two currents.

The two electric currents then built up a sizeable amount of electromagnetic force, which he used to enhance the firepower of his gun, making the propelled bullet looked like a streak of white light that tore straight through the couple of armoured aircraft with ease. Claude called his new move, 'Railgun' - it still required a few more testings, but it was good enough for the time being.

He had been watching the entire spectacle for a while; true to his expectations, the students were more than capable of defeating the White Fang soldiers, and surprisingly capable of forcing his old partner to withdraw as well. The police and (possibly) other huntsmen would arrive soon enough, and Claude just had to wait for the right moment to cut-off Roman's escape.

However, he became worried when he noticed the other two bullheads hovered above the combatants and trained their mounted guns on them; because from his spot, Ruby and Sun were practically standing on the ground zero. Thankfully, his young niece was more than fast enough to get out from the line of fire with the boy in tow, when the guns started blazing. The rest of the girls were also able to defend themselves just fine.

Still, they could not hold for long under that kind of firepower, thus he had to step in. Roman was already pulling out from the fray; knowing that the reinforcement would still take some time to arrive, Claude whipped out his new gun and took down the two enemy bullheads. All that was left was the bullhead where Roman was on.

For a second, Claude was about to pull the trigger and shot the final bullhead down, but he remembered that Roman was still there. The thief might had never been the best partner in the world, or alternatively speaking, an _asshole_ \- but he was still an asshole of a partner whom Claude had shared many battlefields with.

He put his Mjolnir Mk. II back in its holster, as he had another idea to catch him. It would be tricky to pull this off, but Claude had enough power and experience to do so. Deploying his Shatter Storm into its axe form, Claude then leapt high to the sky, high enough that he could dive towards the final aircraft. Carefully positioning himself, Claude aimed towards one of the aircraft's turbines, then with a roar, he swung and slammed the Shatter Storm right on the rotors. "HAAH!"

BOOM!

The impact was enough to blow up the engine and send the bullhead spinning towards the ground. "What the f-! Mayday, mayday!" the White Fang pilot was beyond shock at the knowledge of the engine failure while in the middle of gaining control of the aircraft. "We're falling, everybody hold on to something!"

Roman, on the other hand, thought otherwise; considering the direction where they were falling to, he knew that he had a better chance of survival if he to 'detach' himself from the doomed aircraft. Ignoring the rest of the panicking White Fang, Roman jumped off from the hangar and managed to land himself on a pile of crates. Alas, the fall was too high and it took all of his aura to keep him in one piece as he grunted in pain on the ground.

When Roman regained his bearing - thanking his luck for not having any of his bones broken, he watched the docks were in flames from the bullheads, the children that thwarted his heist were still standing, the White Fang were either incapacitated or dead, and _someone_ was standing behind him. Still lying on the ground, Roman quickly turned to level his Melodic Cudgel at the assailant, presumably the prick who almost blew him up, only to freeze when his eyes were met with an all too familiar pair of silver eyes.

While his brain was still in the middle of processing what he was looking at, Roman found a sole of a boot landing on his face _hard_ , before everything went black.

* * *

When the thing became quiet - safe for the sound of fire crackling around, as well as some groaning from the downed White Fang, team RWBY and Sun gradually regrouped to see that a good part of the docks was in flames. With the smoke and fire around, it was a bit difficult for them to see the state of the battlefield, even with Blake's and Sun's night vision.

"Hey, everyone okay?"

Ruby and the rest turned to see their teacher jogging towards them. "Sterling!"

"'Sup, kids. Again, everyone okay?" Claude stopped in front of them and repeated his question. "Any of you got hurt?"

Everyone glanced at one another for a moment and looked over themselves. "A little sore, perhaps a bit tired as well, but otherwise we are all okay." Yang decided to voice everyone's answer, who nodded along in agreement.

"I see..." However, Claude kept his stare at Ruby. At first, the girls were confused at the gesture, but when they saw the concern in the man's silver orbs, they came to understand what he was worrying about; Ruby and Sun were right in the middle of it all when the guns were blazing.

"...Oh, right." Ruby went slightly sheepish at the attention directed on her. She found her face heating up; she was happy that Sterling was worried for her, but it wasn't that bad, was it? Has he forgotten what her Semblance was? "I'm totally fine! Blitzed my way out right away before the bullets even half-way towards me!" She replied with a cheerful smile.

"Glad to hear it." Claude smiled softly as his hand found its way again on top of Ruby's head, caressing her locks, eliciting a slightly deeper blush from her. However, the moment ended as Claude retracted his hand and gazed upon their burning surrounding. "...But look at what happened here. It's gonna be a pain to explain everything to the cops." He remarked.

Upon his words, Weiss suddenly blinked as a thought occurred to her. "Wait a second, Mr. Cole…. Did you do this?" She gestured at the remains of the burning bullheads.

Everyone glanced at Weiss for a second as they gradually made sense out of it. The lightning that destroyed the bullheads earlier obviously came from something, or more like _someone_. Considering Sterling decided to make himself known after everything was done, Weiss' conclusion sounded the most logical at the moment. The students then turned wide-eyed at the man, who regarded their looks somewhat awkwardly.

However, before the students could have pushed the question further, the sound of police siren was heard from the distance. Grateful for the distraction, Claude then clapped his hands to gain the students' attention. "Okay, kids! Now it's time for the post-battle work! The White Fang are not gonna round themselves up, y'know! Spread out in teams of two and round them up, especially the wounded ones!"

Everyone glanced at each other again and at the scene around them. Claude's instruction was fair enough; despite Claude was the one did the most damage, everything began with them performing vigilantism - the teacher simply did what he believed as necessary to keep them safe. If they had to face the questioning with the police, they might as well lighten up their moods by making their job easier.

Team RWBY then proceeded to pick up and gather the downed White Fang members one by one - Ruby with Weiss and Yang with Blake. On the other hand, Claude asked Sun to help him to move the unconscious Roman Torchwick.

Overall, the rest of the night at the docks went by without much complications.

oXo

Under the night illuminated by the shattered moon, Claude was sitting on his usual spot while listening to his Scroll with earphones.

[...And once you come home, you will help our shares in taking good care of the kids, okay?]

[I love you.]

It was the footage of video which Summer Rose had left for him. Claude simply watched with an impassive look as his lips quirked up into a small smile. He took a deep breath as the video ended, enjoying the night air while recollecting of what had gone down.

The aftermath of the fight on the docks went well enough, particularly when Claude had to explain what had happened to the police. Despite the property damage, at least all of the culprits behind the heist had been apprehended, thus the police did not grill them too much for the stunt they had pulled. Ozpin and Glynda also came to the scene, considering students and staff of Beacon Academy were involved during the entire fiasco. Per their request, as well as considering the circumstances, Roman had been taken away in a different car, separated from the rest of the White Fang. The rest of the students were taken back to the academy, where they had to answer several questions from the headmaster and the deputy themselves.

According to the reports, the mild concussion that Claude had inflicted on Roman would put the latter out for good several hours before he could be diagnosed healthy enough for interrogation. Hence, Claude decided to spend some time alone, waiting for any news of his old partner regaining his consciousness.

However, his solitude came to an end when he sensed someone approaching. He closed the video, took off the earphones, and turned his head to see the pyjama-clad Blake entering the balcony. "...Hey, there." He easily greeted with a small smile.

"Oh, err… Hey." Blake did not seem to expect herself running into him. However, Claude soon found her closing in, standing next to the bench he was sitting on. "...Do you mind if I sit here?"

Claude blinked, not expecting the development. "...Be my guest." He said as he tilted his head towards the empty spot next to him, as well as shifting his seat to give more room. Blake then sat down, not too close to him but still enough to hold a decent conversation. "How can I help you, Blake?"

"I… just want to thank you."

"Don't worry about it." Claude waved off. "I hope things went well with your team after that?"

"Yes, it went well." Blake let a smile grew on her face. True to her words, team RWBY - Weiss and Blake in particular, had basically made up and gotten over their previous argument. Weiss herself even 'apologized' for the things she had said about White Fang; in her own way, of course - saying that she perhaps had gone too far in grouping Faunus and White Fang together, although she still did not approve about Sun's casual disregard of the law. Overall, the team had gone back together; with Blake promised that she would be more open with them as a team.

"That's good, although…" Claude's eyes then trailed to on top of Blake's head. "...Why do you keep the bow on?"

Blake's hand reached up to caress her covered cat-ears. "I'm… sorry. This is not simple for me."

"...Even after your team had learned and accepted you?"

"I'm grateful for what they did, and I have come to trust them, it's just…" Blake paused as her face contorted in slight pain. "...The others."

Claude stared at the girl next to him for a few seconds before he sighed in understanding. "Blake, you do know that Ozpin had already known who you really are when he accepted your application, don't you?"

"I do." Blake replied with a low tone.

Claude carried on, "...And for me, that ribbon on your head is nothing more than a disguise to hide who you really are. You can't hide it forever, you know?"

"The same goes for you, doesn't it?" Blake shot back. However, Claude did not even flinch; nevertheless, she pushed on. "How long do you think until Ruby and Yang find out about who you are?"

"Pretty soon, that's for sure." Claude replied without missing a beat. At Blake's questioning look, he shrugged. "It's not the time yet, but I've…. already thought of when I'm going to tell them." When Blake's look became skeptical, Claude pushed on. "Hey, at least I already have it planned. What about you?"

"My case is about the gap between two races, not a family feud." Blake retorted. "Look, I understand what you are trying to say, but I'm asking you, please give me time. I…" She then bit her lip. "...I'm still not sure of other people's reactions upon my heritage."

At this point, Claude could only sigh. Racism was still running rampant across Remnant; while Vale and Beacon Academy were definitely not the worst when it came to Faunus treatment, the rift still existed. In that way, Claude could understand Blake's fear - perhaps her friends had no problem with her being a faunus, but what about the rest of the student body? Blake had spent a good amount of her life with the White Fang, probably witnessing the horror humans had inflicted on faunus kind; perhaps it was no wonder why Blake had been untrusting.

"Fine, I guess I can't change your mind as it is." Claude leaned back on his seat. "...But can you at least take off the bow when you're in your team's room?"

"...I can try that."

Claude almost scoffed at the reply - 'try'. Perhaps Blake would not get her issue solved anytime soon, but at least that was a good start as any. A few moments later, Blake then stood up. "I've said my piece. Again, thank you for helping me, Claude." Blake smiled at the man.

"No, really. It's no problem. I just don't like seeing team RWBY falling apart." Claude smiled back. "...Ruby has grown fond of you. I trust that you'll look out for her."

"...You're really care about her, aren't you?" Blake asked with amused and curious tone. When they were at the docks, she noticed the way he looked at her young leader; everyone should have known that Ruby would be fine with her Semblance, but Claude's expression that time suggested that he was really worried about Ruby's well-being. "What is she to you? What are you to her?"

In return, Claude only looked down on his lap, his melancholic smile remained on his face as he closed his eyes. "...Goodnight, Blake."

Blake stared for a second and understood that Claude did not want to talk further - not yet, at least. She decided to respect his wish and walked away. "Goodnight to you too, Claude."

Once the girl had completely left the area, Claude's face turned into a frown as he opened his Scroll once again. His eyes hardened when he came into a picture - the same one which Qrow had notified him about his recent investigation.

It was a photograph of his sister, Summer Rose, taken from a bird's point of view, which suggested that someone had spied on her without her knowledge. However, the real problem was the fact that the said picture was crossed with a thick red ink, as if the culprit had deemed that the girl had been eliminated - sign of assassination.

As fury began to slowly build up in his being, Claude received another message on his Scroll. When he read it, his fury was forgotten as his expression softened up a bit and a small smile grew back on his face. Qrow had yet to find a lead, but maybe, just maybe, a wanted criminal would know one thing or two. As Claude stood up and prepared to take his leave, he inwardly hoped, and perhaps believed, that things were looking up despite everything that had happened.

* * *

His vision was blurry when he began to open his eyes. His head was still slightly throbbing as his vision grew from blurry to swimming. He took a breath and blinked his dizziness away, gradually capable of making out where he was.

The first thing he knew that he was sitting on a chair. Secondly, he was still in his usual garment. Thirdly, he found there were a glass of water and his favourite hat on top of a table in front of him. And fourthly, he was handcuffed to the chair he was sitting on. He then looked around a bit more, and from the single light, dark room, and a large mirror on the side, Roman let out a silent scoff that he was inside the interrogation room. Lastly, he also sensed another presence in the room.

"Good to see you awake, Roman." The said presence stepped out from the shadow.

"Hello, Bart." Roman merely greeted his old teammate with a small smirk. He then glanced at the mirror. "I assume P.P. is watching us from the next room?" Roman asked with his smirk widened slightly.

Bartholomew Oobleck gave a quiet sigh as he fixed his glasses and walked towards Roman. "I thought we had agreed to stop calling Peter that name since our second year at Beacon." He took out a small key from his pants pocket and unlocked Roman's restraints.

Roman simply chuckled as he massaged his wrists before he proceeded to reach out for his hat and put it on his head. He then grabbed the glass of water and eyed it curiously. "Is this drugged?" He asked with a small humour in his tone.

"No, Roman. I am the one who got it for you." Barty replied as he merely stood next to him.

Roman shrugged as he downed the glass. It was not Bourbon or Whiskey, but it would do, considering how parched he was after the shitshow he had to deal with. Letting out a sigh, he then noticed that Barty had put something else on the table.

Roman blinked when he noticed that it was a tobacco, complete with a clipper and a lighter. Classic good cop move - Roman thought as he chose not to take a gift horse in the mouth. Lighting up the tobacco on his lips, he took a drag and let out a puff of smoke, revelling in the nicotine in his system. Thinking back of what had happened, Roman could find himself forgetting the hallucination he had witnessed before he blacked out at the docks. There was no way it could be _him_ \- it must have been the little red riding hood, and the fall from the bullhead had impacted his brain and caused him to see things.

A minute later, his mind then returned to his current predicament. "Y'know, I think this is the point where you start asking me questions. Not that I can promise I'll answer you truthfully though." Roman finished with another chuckle. However, he found that Barty was walking towards the door.

"Oh, no. I'm not the one who wants to talk with you." Barty retorted when he was by the door. "We are waiting for more people, actually. I'm just here to make sure you're alright. Peter and I will be watching from the room next door."

"Then can I at least have another one of this?" Roman gestured at his cigarette. If he was going to spend more time in this place, he might as well made himself comfortable.

Barty seemed to consider his request for a second, and much to Roman's surprise, the history teacher shrugged and decided to take out one pack from his other pocket. "Yes, I believe you will need it." He said as he put it on the table.

When Barty finally left the room, Roman could not help but to feel that something was off. The way Barty spoke - why would he need that much smoke? During his past experiences under police custody, they would only give him one or two. Well, they gave more, but that only when the interrogation dragged on, not a bunch of them right off the bat.

As Roman spent more minutes enjoying himself alone, he had finished one smoke. He then reached out for another one, was about to light it up, only to hear the door of his room being opened. "Huh, took you long en…" the rest of his words died off as he froze at the sight of the man closing the door. His fingers went slack, dropping the tobacco and the lighter to the floor as his mouth was gapping in disbelief.

Red cloak changed to a red coat; while his black-to-red gradation hair was let down freely, there was no mistaking the face, especially with that damnable silver eyes.

"Whew, I got here as soon as I heard you woke up. I was supposed to come here together with Oz and Glynda, but damn, am I glad to see you again."

Roman's jaw dropped lower when he heard the man's voice. When the said man sat on the seat opposite of him and procured a couple of glass and a bottle of liquor, Roman's eyes widened when the man combed his hair back with his hand, allowing him to get a clear look on his face - he did not change at the slightest ever since the last time he saw him!

"Here, I even managed to get my hands on your favourite Vacuan Bourbon. I gotta tell you, it's not easy to smuggle this baby into this room. So you'd better be grateful."

Then, the memory from the docks returned to Roman's mind in full force - Claude fucking Rose was sitting in front of him, as he lived and breathed. Roman's old partner then shifted his sitting position, making himself more comfortable. "So, you probably have seen this coming; you and I, have a lot of catching up to do. Although, before we start, there's something that's been bugging me for a while." Claude's face turned serious.

"...Since when are you putting on mascara?" He asked as if it was the most important question.

That one question, however, seemed to snap something inside Roman, as his face contorted into rage before he proceeded to jump over the table and pounce on him.

"YOU FUCK!"

oXo

"Seriously, all we asked from him is to come here together. Is that too much?" Glynda Goodwitch grumbled as she trekked through the police precinct with Ozpin by her side and an officer leading them ahead.

"Now, now, Glynda. This is a long awaited reunion for him, I think it's only understandable for Mr. Rose to be the most eager to be here." Ozpin simply waved Glynda's complaints off as usual.

Glynda then sighed heavily. "Not that I don't understand... I simply don't know what to expect…." She then checked on her Scroll. "Peter just told me that the interrogation has started."

"Then we just need to focus on the matter at hand, and trust that Mr. Rose has this under control." Ozpin smiled as they arrived at the watching room.

The police officer opened the door to allow Ozpin and Glynda to enter first before he quickly followed suit. Once all of them inside however, they saw Peter and Barty preparing coffee. When they noticed their arrival, the former raised up his cup. "Oh, Headmaster and Professor Goodwitch! Would you like some coffee? I'm afraid the interrogation will take some time." Peter greeted with jovial tone.

The two teachers behaved as if nothing was wrong. While those who just arrived were greeted with the spectacle inside the interrogation room next door. "What the hell…?" the officer was the first to comment as he watched what was transpiring.

Ozpin simply gave a quiet snort and shrugged before he walked in and accepted a steaming mug gratefully, courtesy of Barty. Glynda on the other hand, simply had a resigned look on her face before she took off her glasses and ran her hand on her face in exasperation, fighting an urge to groan. She questioned herself whether she should have been surprised or not at the current development, considering Claude Rose and Roman Torchwick were put in the same room after 20 years.

After massaging her face, she looked up and found the face of smiling Peter offering her a cup of coffee. She looked at the steaming black liquid for a second - she was more of a tea than a coffee person, but she found herself accepting the drink and took a sip, try to enjoy the bitter taste as she and everyone else watched the 'interrogation'.

Behind the two-way mirror, Claude just ducked in time to avoid Roman's first to make contact with his face, before he quickly wrapped his arms around Roman's torso. "HYAAH!" he then lifted him up and slammed him straight onto the table, causing the furniture to collapse from the sheer force, the Bourbon and glasses that Claude had brought with him were spilled on the floor. Roman's hat had also flown off somewhere at some point of the brawl.

Then, while he was still mounting over Roman, who was groaning in slight pain, the former did not let up as he proceeded to send a couple of punches on the latter's face, before he had to let go in order to avoid a table's leg swung at him. Claude then leaned down, grabbing his partner's hand that was holding the offending weapon and used his weight to pin him, until Roman suddenly surged his head forward and smash his forehead to Claude's nose.

CRACK!

"Ow!" Claude cried as he stumbled back while massaging his throbbing nose; Roman was already on him with the table leg still in his hand. The crook then swung at Claude for a couple of times, which Claude easily parried, followed with a counter spin to deliver a solid elbow on Roman's cheek, sending the latter's back to the mirror and dropped his makeshift weapon. Roman quickly recovered himself before charging at Claude again. Before Claude could have thrown another attack in retaliation, Roman suddenly tackled him, sending them both to the floor again, where Roman proceeded to send a few more punches on Claude's ribs, while the latter trying to push Roman off him.

Knowing that Roman's build had grown bigger over the years, Claude then improvised by reaching whatever was closest to him for leverage, which happened to be the Bourbon he just brought, and Claude smashed the bottle on Roman's head. "Ha!"

PRANG!

"Argh!" Roman cried out in pain and Claude used the chance to use both of his foot to push Roman off him. The crook fell back before he rolled back to a crouch, just in time to see Claude waking up and already charging towards him. The young huntsmen lunged at the crook in order to put him down, but Roman reacted by catching his body in mid-air and using the momentum to throw him at the mirror.

CRACK!

The glassy surface cracked as soon as Claude's body made contact, and the young man groaned from the pain on his back, before he proceeded to stand back up and engage Roman again. Meanwhile, back in the monitoring room, everyone was still watching the entire debacle folding out. In fact, the teachers had begun to engage themselves in idle conversation, ignoring the progressing slugfest.

"I never liked the strong taste of coffee. How can anyone enjoys this?"

Roman was in the middle of strangling Claude with his own scarf from behind, with the latter hacking and gasping as he struggled to break free.

"The strong taste is the main charm, Glynda. Although not everyone can take it. Would you like sugar or cream, perhaps?"

"Both of them, thank you."

Claude then kicked off the wall in front of him in order to throw himself and Roman back to the floor, breaking him free from Roman's strangling.

"How's everything at school, Barty? I hope the students are still able to keep up."

Claude then proceeded to deliver a couple more punches at Roman on the floor, before Roman caught his third punch and retaliated with a mean hook to his cheek, sending Claude down to the floor as well.

"Bah, if I am to be honest, headmaster; children these days have little respect towards history. Although there are thankfully some of them who share a similar view as mine."

While the teachers were still busy chatting with one another, the police officer who had been accompanying them was the only person who looked uncomfortable at the whole development. Seeing that all the teachers still having idle chats while a violent brawl was still happening right in front of them, he eventually decided to speak up. "Um, sirs? Ma'am? Shouldn't we stop them?" He asked nervously.

The teachers then paused their conversation to turned and looked at police officer. A few seconds later, Ozpin was the first to reply. "Right, of course. How silly of me." He did not sound regretful as he proceeded to turn on the comms. "Mr. Rose, Mr. Torchwick. I believe you have given us enough show for tonight."

In the middle of ransacked room, Claude and Roman were trapped in a dead-lock on the floor. Their arms were somewhat around each other's necks and shoulders; both of them were struggling for dominance while forcing the other into submission. Upon hearing Ozpin's voice, they paused, but their hold on each other remained strong.

"...Alright, Rome. You heard the man. Let me go." Claude finally spoke up.

"Let _you_ go? You let me go!" Roman retorted.

"No, seriously, man. Let me go." Claude shot back.

The two remained stubborn for a few seconds before Roman spoke up. "...On three."

"Alright, on three." Claude nodded. "...Ready? One, two, three."

However, neither of them moved an inch. "See? That makes me unable to believe that you're the partner I knew." Roman commented.

"Oh, yeah? Fine, on the count of three we let each other go, okay?" Claude scoffed while he kept his hold firm as Roman did to him.

"Sounds fair."

"Okay, one, two, three." However, after the second three-counts, neither Claude or Roman loosened their hold.

"Heh, I knew it." Roman said. "You're not him. The real Claude would've let me go."

"Ugh, for crying out loud!" Both men looked up to see the seething Glynda watching over them. "Will you two stop acting like children!? We don't have all night here!"

After regarding the woman for a second, Claude then spoke again. "Okay, okay. I'm gonna let you go, okay? I'll let you go. One, two…" Claude then slowly released his hold on Roman, whom automatically released his own hold as well.

The atmosphere began to lighten as everyone exhaled in relief. Claude and Roman were slowly taking sitting position on the floor with the former began to giggle. Both him and Roman were looking worse for wear from the fight, but they were pretty much uninjured thanks to their aura. "Oh, boy, ain't that fun." Claude remarked as he ran his hand through his lock.

Roman on the other hand, was staring at Claude with mixed feelings. "So… you're really…?"

"Yeah, it's good to see you again, Rome." Claude said with a genuine smile towards Roman.

The thief stared at the face of the partner who he had thought to be dead, before he turned to look at the other teachers - Barty and Peter in particular, who were also smiling knowingly at him. A moment later, Roman's face broke into a tired smile as he began to cackle. "...What a fucked up night. I need a Bourbon… And more smokes." He said as he ran his hand over his face.

* * *

 **Omake**

Team CBPR and team STRQ were spending the night in one of settlements outside the Kingdom walls, where they had recently warded off a Grimm invasion. The night was approaching, and Claude was taking a break after his shift on overseeing the village's post-battle recovery from the ordeal. Sitting on the rooftop of the inn they were staying, the man just finished watching the sun setting into the horizon.

"There you are."

A soft smile grew on his face as he sensed someone appeared behind him, along with a familiar voice; he glanced back to see his sister walking up next to him. "Hey, sis. How are things down there?"

"Things turned out better than I expected." Summer replied as she took a seat next to her brother. "It's a good thing that we managed to prevent the horde from spreading out; otherwise we would've been overwhelmed."

"We have to thank the terrain for that." Claude nodded. "Still, something is off."

When Summer looked at him with intrigued look, Claude promptly elaborated. "Remember what the village chief told us when we're questioning him earlier? This place has been peaceful for a while; no crimes, no fights, not even deaths for the past week. The negativity should have been nowhere nearly enough to attract that kind of horde."

"You have a point there." Summer hummed with a thoughtful look.

Creatures of Grimm were mainly attracted by negativity generated by people, such as during conflicts, crimes, unrest, etc. That was why people who lived outside the Kingdom would do their best to maintain peace and remain cordial with one another, lest they would attract the Grimm. An attack would still happen, but it would be done by a small pack that just happened to come across the outskirts or wandering civilians.

Case in point; the amount of Grimm that CBPR and STRQ had dispatched, did not seem to make sense, unless the settlement just underwent some kind of tragedy that drove its occupants into panic in the first place. "That many Grimm to travel together and run into this village…. There has to be some kind of reason." Summer put in her two cents

"Peter told me that he had analysed the general direction where the horde came from." Claude said, keeping his gaze forward. "We will investigate by next morning."

"And I already have Tai and Barty to send message back to Beacon about our findings." Summer followed up with a smile.

"So all that's left is to recover ourselves for tomorrow." Claude sighed as he leaned back on his arms. "...How were things down there, before you came here?"

"Well enough." Summer also relaxed herself. "Raven and Roman are actually behaving for once. Rae was playing with the local kids without being snarky when I left her, and Roman wasn't looting anything at all." She said with an amused tone.

"Really?" Claude turned towards Summer with slightly bewildered look on his face - Raven Branwen playing with children? Roman Torchwick not trying to get his hands on other people's stuff?

"Wow, could this be the end of times?" Claude remarked with a snort.

"Don't say it like that, brother. Because I'm starting to get worried as well." Summer chided lightly as she playfully slapped Claude's shoulder.

Claude gave a short laugh before he turned his gaze forward, leaving him and his sister to watch the tranquil night sky. A few minutes later, Claude suddenly spoke up. "Say, Summer…"

"...Hm?"

"What would you do if I die?"

A second after he asked that question, Claude was met with the sensation of Summer flicking her finger on his temple, _hard_. He flinched at the pain, rubbing the sore spot while turning to see Summer's poute. It was adorable, but it was also clear that she was upset. "I don't want to even imagine that." She said as she stood up, towering over his sitting position. "Don't you ever suggest or question something like that again, do you understand?"

Seeing his sister's expression, Claude only rubbed his head awkwardly before he also stood up to face her properly. "I'm sorry, it's just..."

However, when Claude was still busy searching for the right words, Summer beat him into it. "Seriously, what's gotten to you now?" Summer stepped in closer, reaching out to run her hand over Claude's face softly.

In return, Claude pulled Summer into a hug, burying his face into her locks, inhaling the flowery scent. "Why are you like this, Claude?" Summer asked as she buried her face into her brother's chest. "You speak and act as if you have to take everything on alone." She said with a sad tone.

"...I got better." Claude retorted with a defiant tone.

"Maybe a little." Summer could not help but giggle at her brother's reply. "Still, you asked earlier as if you're gonna die soon." She then looked up to meet her silver eyes with Claude's. "Don't ever think about dying. Your team, Roman in particular will never admit it, but they need you. My team looked up to you; Raven and I love you."

Claude averted his gaze away at Summer's words, which the latter would not have any of it. "Don't look away, brother of mine. I know what you're thinking." Summer replied with a somewhat smug tone. "No matter what you two say, everybody knows what's happening between you and Raven, especially after that night."

Claude froze for a second before he looked back at his sister, whom was actually sporting a smug look. "...What are you talking about? What night?"

Knowing that her brother was trying to avoid the subject, Summer's smile widened. "Please, brother, I'm already 19. I understand that you and Raven had se-!"

"Shh! Shh! Shh! Shh!" Claude suddenly hushed and put his finger on Summer's lips, effectively shutting her up. "...Don't say that word; rather, who taught you that word?" He asked with a somewhat panic expression.

Summer looked slightly irritated as she removed Claude's finger off her. "Claude, again, I'm 19 years old! I've learned grown-up stuff, okay?!"

"Grown-up stuff…." Claude's face paled, before his expression turned pensive. He then placed his hands on Summer's shoulders. "...Who is it?"

"Who is what?" Summer looked confused at Claude's sudden change.

"The guy! The one who you learned grown-up stuff from!" Claude almost shouted. "Oh my gods… Is my baby sister having a b-b-b-boyfriend without me knowing!?" He felt that a good part of his world falling apart; he would not allow his little sister to date until she was at least 31.

"Wha- No!" Summer was immediately flustered at the idea - how did things turn to _this_?! "I don't have a boyfriend! Well, Qrow, Tai, and your team are technically _boyfriends_ , but that's not the point! I haven't done anything like that at all!" She shouted back; she would not reveal where she knew the 'stuff' to Claude as well.

"Haven't done….?" Claude trailed off as his emotion went overdrive. "You know what?! Forget what I asked about me dying! Like hell I'm gonna die and leave my sister alone to… to… whatever wolves and pigs out there! I ain't handing you over to anyone!" He declared as he pulled Summer back into a tighter hug, spinning and smothering her around in the process.

"Ugh, Claude! Let go of me!" Summer screamed as she struggled to break free from her brother's embrace.

Meanwhile, Roman and Raven were standing in front of the inn where the siblings were quarreling; hearing some voices from all the way down. "What the hell are those two doing up there?" The woman asked as she looked at the sight of Summer trying to push Claude away with her foot, with Claude desperately trying to cling on her.

"Jealous?" Roman asked with a teasing smirk on his face. In return, Raven narrowly glared at him.

"Roman, I will punch you."

In return, Roman only snorted, but he remained quiet as he returned to watch the banter between siblings.

* * *

 **I will try to work back on my One-Punch DxD, or maybe Gunslinger DxD, so wish me luck, boys! Please review! Ahsoei, over and out.**


	20. End of The First Term (I)

**RWBY: The Redeemer**

* * *

 **Beta-read by Starlight's Poet**

 **Chapter 19: End of the First Term (I)**

"I can't believe you're alive this whole time."

In the middle of what remained of the interrogation room, Claude and Roman were sitting on the chairs that managed to survive their slugfest, facing each other. The rest of the teachers and the police officer were still watching from the next room, patiently listening to the unfolding conversation.

"I thought you're dead! I actually grieved, you know!?" Roman barked out as he massaged the phantom pain from his head. His hair was still damp from the Bourbon earlier.

"I'm honored, Rome." Claude simply replied as he stretched and popped the kinks out of his neck.

"...And the worst part, that you still look the same! The rest of us are wrinkled now!"

Claude blinked, the others from the next room also did not expect the last part. Then again, considering who they were dealing with at the moment, it was not that surprising. "What are you talking about? You're not…" Claude paused as he leaned forward slightly to get a better look. "...Oh, so those _are_ make-ups. I guess that explains the mascara." He said, regarding the black stain that fell from Roman's eyes like tears, presumably from the liquor.

Roman only regarded his former leader for a moment before he sighed. "You know what, nevermind. What the fuck do you want?"

"What happened to you, Roman?" Claude asked as he hunched down on his seat, sporting a serious expression.

"What happened to me?" Roman smirked as he also hunched forward, meeting Claude's eyes with his own. "...What happened to _you_?"

The two partners kept their eyes on one another for a good minute, until Claude let out a breath - he was a bit too hasty; if he were to (re)gain Roman's trust, it could be necessary to show his side of the story first. Leaning back on his seat, Claude crossed his legs before spoke up. "I guess it happened right after that battle, from my point of view, by the way…"

Thus, Claude told Roman everything; his subsequent 'time-travel', his reunion with Barty and Peter, his reunion with the males of team STRQ, and his decision to take up the alias of Sterling Cole, and his current allegiance with Ozpin. Of course, about the force that threatened not only Four Kingdoms, but possibly the entire Remnant as well.

"So…. Time travel." Roman began after silently mulling over what he had heard for the past few minutes.

"It sounds ludicrous, I know. But what else could it be?" Claude retorted and gestured at himself.

"Okay, let's leave it at that, sure." Roman shrugged, before going to the next subject. "...And you want me, to help you - all of you." He glanced at the cracked two-way mirror. "Saving this Kingdom, and possibly the whole world?"

Being partners for several years had allowed Claude to guess that Roman was not all for the cause, considering what the latter had been doing for living. It was kind of the former's responsibility, since he was not around to look after his team for two decades. Having half of his team still keeping themselves together was already a miracle enough.

"No, of course not." Claude scoffed with an almost-offended smile, as he rebuked Roman's assumption, before he pointed his finger at him. "I want to help _you_ saving your turf here…. And possibly the whole world as well, yes." He ended with a shrug.

On the other hand; being partners for several years, as well as dealing with the criminal underworld, had allowed Roman to guess what game his former leader was playing at; trying to appeal his interest in order to secure his cooperation - _classic Claude_. But strangely enough, Roman missed this, as he only smirked with his eyes closed as he shook his head slightly in exasperation of Claude's phrasing.

"Okay, I'll go straight to the point; what's in it for me?" Roman replied.

"Maybe pardons, or at least special privileges and reduced sentence if you're still going to prison… But other than the fact that people's lives are at stake, do you really need any other reason? I know you're better than this, partner."

Roman almost scoffed at the 'p' word at the end. "...Don't see it as my problem." He leaned back on his seat, crossing his arms in defiance.

The room fell into silence as the two old friends were glaring at one another. Eventually, Claude broke the silence. "Okay, Rome. Seriously, what happened to you?" He asked with concern in his voice.

"The world happened." Roman replied cryptically.

"Roman…"

"No, I'm serious. I mean, look at what happened to you." Roman pointed at Claude. "You found yourself 20 years into the future, your girlfriend became your ex after turning to another man, your team is in shambles, and your only family kicked the bucket."

" _Careful there, Rome._ " For a moment, an oppressive feeling enveloped the room and the one next to them, as Claude narrowed his eyes.

From the watch room - the police officer swallowed a lump as he rubbed the back of his neck that was wet from the sudden sweating. Ozpin did not seem unperturbed, but one could notice his grip on his cane tightened ever so slightly. Glynda's jaw tightened, while Barty and Peter went uncharacteristically still, as their eyes honing at the two people beyond the two-way mirror.

It took everything of Roman to keep his posture unflinching, although a drop of sweat ran past his temple. Still, everyone had to give Roman some credit when he still decided to speak up. "My point is, whatever you have on the table, I don't want any part of it, I don't care, and couldn't care less. Goodbye." He said as he forced himself to relax, or at least looked like it.

"So you want to give up?" Claude pushed on. "You want to just stay here, rotting and left off as a mere crook who got captured by a bunch of teenagers?"

In return, Roman only shrugged with that damnable smirk on his face, as he picked up a dry cigar from the floor and tried to light it up on his lips. From the next room, everyone else shared glances; the interrogation was seemingly taking turns for the worse.

However, Claude simply kept his gaze on Roman, as if studying him. "...Are you scared, Roman?" He suddenly spoke.

Roman raised an eyebrow, but he quickly calmed down when he managed to flick a fire open with his lighter, he burned and took a drag of his cigar, puffing out smoke in the end before replying, "Who wouldn't? Besides the three meals, shabby beds and bathrooms, life in prison is still quite a bitch."

"I won't deny that one." Claude shrugged, deciding to humour Roman for a bit. "...But I mean that you're scared to go out there again. Scared of what could happen if you choose to… step up." He then chose to go straight to the point.

Apparently, Roman decided to bite back. "...You have no idea what's out there in the real world, pal."

"Do you?"

"Monsters." Roman spoke. "Even worse than Grimm. They don't just want to topple a kingdom, their goals are further than that - global scale."

"...Really?" Claude asked with curious tone.

"I've met them in person. They're powerful, and have resources everywhere. Nobody can stop them…. Not even Summer."

Silver eyes narrowed, as their owner replied, "But they haven't met me, have they?" At Claude's retort, Roman could not find any word to reply back. "...And they haven't had to deal with team CBPR before."

Seconds later, Roman clicked his tongue in disbelief, as he took another long drag of his cigar. He breathed out another smoke, as he rubbed his aching head again. "Rome, look at me." The thief looked up, enough for his eyes to meet Claude's. "We can still do this. I am here now." Claude spoke. "I know it was a dick move of me to suddenly vanish 20 years ago, but now that I'm here, we can still fix things."

"Fix things?" Roman scoffed and open his arms wide. "Really, fix things? What is there to fix?! You think everyone's just gonna let me walk away free after everything I've done for 20 years?!"

"Who knows?" Claude replied simply, catching Roman and everyone else off-guard. "But again, do you honestly want to leave things as they are?"

"Of course I don't!" Roman roared, standing up. Claude automatically raised his hand up towards the mirror, as if stopping the others from the next door from doing anything. Meanwhile, Roman did not stop there. "But what do you know?! You're never around when everything went to shit! And when I just got myself back together and move on with my life, you just walked in and fucking ruined everything!"

During Roman's tirade, Claude remained seated, his eyes never left his partner. From the next room, the police officer was giving doubtful glances at the teachers. However, the said teachers did not say anything as they kept watching the talk.

"...You want to play hero again and save the world?! Fine, go ahead and get yourself killed for all I care! I will do what I do best, take the best bets in life so I can survive in this fucking world! I will keep stealing and cheating if I have to!" Roman finished with outstretched arms.

"Then put your bet on me."

Roman stilled, and Claude inwardly smiled at the reaction. He always knew that Roman had always been a gambling man. "Look me in the eye, Roman, and tell me; do you honestly think I'm going to be the losing side?"

The room went silent for a good few minutes as Roman narrowed his eyes at his former partner. Then, Claude spoke with his voice level. "I won't ask for you to turn a new leaf. All I ask of you to believe in me one more time."

Roman looked down, thinking of what had happened in his life after that fateful day. He had been regarded as one of the top dogs in the criminal underworld, one of the best thieves on the face of Remnant. Gangsters and mafia families had grown to be wary of his achievements, and people would look over their shoulders and pockets whenever the news announced his presence in the neighbourhood, while authority figures were made fools out of whenever he made his escapes. It wasn't an honest job, he knew, but he had grown to take pride in it.

Until _she_ came to the picture; it infuriated him, but he knew battles he could not win even if he went all out. She overcame every single one of his tricks and arsenals through sheer raw power beyond his knowledge, and he had no choice but to let himself put under her mercy. He, Roman Torchwick, the master thief had become a mere lapdog for some upstart terrorists; not to mention those White Fang hypocrites that she brought along as extra hands.

Back to present - despite Roman's turmoil towards his old partner/leader, Claude's words did drive something into his heart, or more like his pride. Then again, he had spent a good few years pulling off shenanigans and watching his back together.

Roman then contemplated his options again; on one hand, he knew that despite how shitty prison life was, behind the bars was his safest place to keep himself out of the massive crossfire that would soon follow; and on the other hand, curse Claude's lasting influence over him, as well as his gambling behaviour that he had picked up for the last decade, Claude might be able to pull something off that could turn everything upside down.

"...Maybe you're right." Roman spoke after a few good minutes. "I don't like the way things are and I'm pissed. However…. Do I still know you?"

In return, Claude only smiled knowingly as he stood up and walked closer, before he leaned forward until his face was on the same level as Roman's. Silver met dark green, Claude's smile widened by fraction as he replied, "Why don't you tell me yourself?" The question, however, did not sound like one.

Roman kept his calm as he took in everything he could see; Claude's resolute gaze, his confident tone, posture, etc.; for a minute, before he came into a decision.

* * *

"Roman Torchwick escaped?!"

"Shh!"

"...Sorry."

Claude peeked from one corner of the book shelves inside Beacon's library, watching Blake being hushed by a nearby librarian, before she returned back on her seat with embarrassment from her outburst. It had been a few days after the fight at the docks, and both team RWBY and JNPR were beginning to regain their normal lives, holding a study session together, until they saw the latest news feed on their Scrolls.

Seeing that he needed to calm the first-years down, he put the book he was reading back to the shelf and made his way towards them, all while listening to the hushed chatter.

"How did that happen?"

"Does it mean we'll have to find him working with the White Fang again?"

"Don't forget to invite us this time! Let's break his legs so he won't escape again!"

Claude had to hold down his snort from the last remark; news sure travelled fast. But then again, it should have been expected. "You kids causing trouble again?" He asked with a mild playful tone as he arrived at the table.

"Oh, Sterling." Ruby greeted him first as usual, before she suddenly looked a bit nervous. "Well… Just finding out about… y'know, a news."

"Yeah, I heard her shrieking, alright." Claude glanced at Blake, who blushed and pouted at him in return.

"How did this happen, Mr. Cole? Didn't you arrest him?" Weiss asked.

"I did, but as soon as I left the precinct, whether Roman could escape or not was up to the VPD. Currently, all I can do is to wait for the results of their investigation; how he escaped, possible routes and destinations, etc." At Claude's reply, Blake let out a breath but did not argue any further. What's done is done, all she could do was to prepare herself for what was to come.

"Well, at least we won't hear anything about him for a while. Considering what we've done for his latest heist, it won't be easy for him to recover all he had lost."

Blake looked thoughtful, there were some valid points; Torchwick would have to lay low while the authorities were still on him; and considering how many White Fang personals that he had lost to the authorities, it could be hard for him to regain the organisation's full trust should he wanted to pull another heist. Best case scenario, the White Fang would cut ties with Torchwick altogether.

"Anyway." Claude then clapped his hand softly, since he was at a quiet area. "Instead of worrying about some crook doing god-knows what, how about worrying about your upcoming mid-semester written assessment?"

The question elicited several groans and moans from both RWBY and JNPR. As much as Blake loathed to admit - she was still a student of Beacon Academy, and there was nothing she could do at the moment regarding Roman and the White Fang.

"Ugh, Sterling… Can you tell us what's gonna come out on the test?" Yang asked as her body slumped over the table - covered in books and papers.

"Sorry, Ms. Xiao Long. Not only the teachers are pretty secretive with their tests, I'm not allowed to disclose sensitive information to a student." Claude replied easily enough.

Yang then eyed the man for a second, before a devious smirk grew on her lips. She then stood up and sauntered towards him, leaning herself forward to emphasize her curves. "Please…? Just a bit?" She gave a demure smile as she reached out to run her finger on Claude's cheek.

Everyone else was looking rather flustered; Nora was looking curiously, with Ren looked the calmest of everyone while he stole glances every now and then; Jaune himself did not expect the sight, and ended up watching with curious eyes, while Pyrrha was doing her best to keep Jaune from watching any further… and failed miserably.

As for team RWBY - they were as flustered as their sister-team. Blake could not tear her eyes away from the unfolding scene, Weiss was barely able to keep her eyes on the textbook she was reading, while Ruby… was spluttering incoherent words while her head seemed was about to explode.

Claude on the other hand, was undeterred as he simply regarded the blonde bombshell before her with slightly amused expression. "...Ms. Xiao Long, are you trying to seduce me?" he decided to choose a direct approach.

Perhaps obviously enough, Yang refused to back down. She daringly took a small step closer until her face was only a few centimeters away from his, lilac orbs stared intently at silver orbs. "...If I am?" Yang spoke with a small, alluring smirk.

However, Claude's lips only twitched slightly upward as he leaned down, inching his eyes even closer to Yang's - too closer, as her lilac eyes widened at the unexpected response. This time, Yang could feel her cheeks heating up, as she could feel his breath on her face.

While Yang could not tear her gaze away from being flooded by an endless ocean of silver, Claude himself ended up trapping himself in similar predicament, unable to tear his gaze away from her lilac eyes as well. However, he persevered and whispered in return, "...Then I'm afraid you have a poor choice of location to do so. Otherwise I probably won't hesitate to partake you."

Finally, Yang took a step back as she could not bear it anymore. Her face was flustered, but she managed to take a calming breath. "Not bad, teach… Not bad at all." She said with a grin - many guys who had received this treatment from her had become weak on their knees, or were at least flustered like mad. She knew well that she was attractive, and would not hesitate to use it to her advantage if the situation demands so. Still, there was a line to draw; after all, she did not see herself as a simple girl as everyone believed her to be. To think that the man before her, not only he was not affected by her charms, he had turned her teasing back at her. She, Yang Xiao Long, had been teased. "...This is definitely not over yet, though." She pointed and gave a wink.

"Looking forward to it." Claude returned with an easy smile before he turned around. "Okay, kids. I'll leave you to your studies. Good luck." He winked one more time before he walked away.

Once the man was out of sight, everyone turned to the blonde of team RWBY. "Yang, what was that?!" Ruby scolded with hushed tone.

"Yeah, I guess that didn't go as planned." Yang replied with a sigh, resting her chin on her palm.

"That's an understatement." Blake retorted.

"You're lucky that Mr. Cole has a good ethics; and seriously, in front of everyone?!" a hundred points for those who could guess the one to say that.

"Sheesh, relax, Weiss-cream. It's not like we're making that much of commotion." Yang defended herself, then she glanced at Ruby. "...And if it's making you any better, sis. I'm not planning to snag your crush away."

"Cru-!?" Ruby's face lit up as red as her hood, she then looked left and right awkwardly before she pulled her hood over to conceal herself. "You're talking crazy!"

Yang snickered as the tables turned; Blake and Weiss were eyeing their flustered leader - the former with mild amusement while the latter was skeptical. Still, the blonde took another breath as she leaned back to stretch herself out in order to relax - when was the last time a man managed to make her feeling like this?

On the other hand, Jaune made a mental note if he could ask Sterling for 'advice', Pyrrha was not sure of what to do or say, while Ren was busy again calming Nora for… being herself, as usual.

oXo

Meanwhile, after he had made sure that he was out of sight and out of earshot, he leaned his back against the wall as he blew out a breath, with a faint shade of red adorning his cheeks. "Huh… I guess she really _is_ Raven's daughter." He said with amusement in his tone. Running his hand through his locks, Claude walked away in order to find something else to do, whatever that could help him not feeling awkward and bothered anymore.

"Oh, hey, there!"

Claude paused when he was greeted by a familiar figure in front of him. Light blonde hair, clad in open-shirt that exposed his abs; Sun Wukong waved his hand in greeting as he approached him.

"Hey, err… Sun, was it?" Claude greeted back.

"Yep, that's me. Nice to see you again, man. Sterling, right?" the monkey faunus easily replied, which Claude returned with a nod. "Oh, did you hear the news about Torchwick?" He asked again.

"Yeah, after all the work we put through." Claude shrugged. "...Rather, how are things with you? Correct me if I'm wrong, but you kind of… came here illegally."

"Well…" Sun rolled his eyes in thought. "Some questionings and lectures from Professor Goodwitch, but I'm pretty much out of fire. My school had to finish their assessment early due to Vytal Festival at Vale, so I'm technically on holiday. Now I just have to behave and wait for the rest of my team to arrive."

"Lucky you, then." Claude smiled, eliciting a short laugh from Sun as well. "Well, if there's nothing else, I'll be on my way. If you're wondering where Blake is, she's at library with her team, preparing for their own mid terms. Don't disturb them too much, okay?"

"Oh, that's cool, then. I'm just gonna look around the school, gotta be a good leader to show my team around when they arrive, right?" Sun said with a wink.

Claude nodded with an approving hum, before he walked past Sun while giving him a pat on his shoulder. However, when he was only a few steps away, Sun called out again.

"Oh, one more thing!"

"Yes?"

"It might sounds weird, but…. Have we met before?"

Claude blinked at Sun's question for a second before replying. "...No, I don't think so. Why?"

"It's just…. Well, it feels like I've seen you somewhere before." Sun reasoned.

"Huh…" Claude then shrugged. "Maybe it's your imagination, or you got the wrong guy, I don't know. Although…." Something came to mind. "Just wondering, are you native from Mistral? No offence, but your get-up strikes me more as Vacuo or Menagerie kind of guy."

"You got on that one." Sun snapped his fingers. "I was born in Vacuo, but as soon as I was able to walk on my own, my family moved to Mistral. Something about the environment not being the best place to educate kids."

"Okay, and… your name is Sun Wukong, right?" Claude asked again.

"Yeah…?" Sun could not help but wonder at the last question.

"Just to make sure." Claude shrugged again. "Well, I gotta go. Catch you later, Sun." He waved one more time before walking away to leave Sun in the hallway.

Once he had walked far enough, Claude ran his hand over his face. Seriously, the whole thing about time travel, secret wars and stuff, had made Claude forgetting to keep tabs on his _other_ friends across Remnant. "Wukong, huh…" He muttered - apparently, he still had a lot of catching up to do.

* * *

It was at night, when all of the students had fallen asleep. Claude was sitting alone on a table inside the teacher's lounge; several papers and books were laid before him as he read through the contents. After sometime, Claude let out a breath as he popped a few kinks out of his neck, before reaching at the cup of coffee next to him. When he downed the mug, he found that he had drunk the last drop of the coffee; just when he was about to stand up to get a refill, he suddenly sensed someone approaching.

"How unusual to see you doing paperwork this late."

Claude looked up and was greeted by the sight of Glynda Goodwitch with a pair of steaming mugs on each hand. She put one mug on the table near him before taking a seat in front of him. Claude nodded her thanks before he took another small sip. "How's the night patrol?"

"Well enough, all things considered." Glynda blew into her own mug before taking a sip. "Partially, it was thanks to the low numbers of first-years here, that I didn't catch any students who tend to be…. Adventurous at night."

"Of course. They're good kids, personal quirks aside." Claude nodded in agreement.

Glynda then turned her gaze at the papers and books laid across the table. She took a good look at every page that she could get, then she noticed that what Claude was doing was barely anything school-related. The books and papers served more as a cover for what Claude was truly working on. "...You know, you could've worked in your room instead of here; more privacy."

"True, but I… can focus better here. Plus, this place is nearer to drinks if I need some."

Claude replied with a small smile.

The two fell into a somewhat companionable silence, with Claude looking through more papers, writing some on them and occasionally looking at his Scroll, with Glynda watching him without a word. "What are you really working on here?" the woman finally broke the silence after some time.

Claude stopped at the question, then he heaved a small sigh, as he relaxed on his seat. "Everything that we've learned so far… I'm just reviewing them."

Glynda unconsciously tightened her jaw before she closed her eyes, taking a deep breath, and looked at Claude with relaxed, soft expression. "Claude, about what happened…"

"Glynda." Claude interrupted with closed eyes. "...What's done is done. You can't change the past." When he opened his eyes, for a second, Glynda was unnerved - or more like worried when she took a glimpse of the look on Claude's silver eyes. "All we can do now is to prepare for the future." He finished by meeting Glynda's eyes with his own calm ones.

"...I see." Glynda looked down, her face looked solemn somehow. With another breath, she then leaned back on her chair. "So, I take that you've prepared for what you want to say to your nieces?"

Claude ran his hand through his locks as he let out another breath. "Yes, more or less. Come to think of it, I need to notify Qrow and Tai too. Y'know, for emotional support." He then leaned forward and rested his arms on the table. "So, enough about me. We never really got any time to catch up by ourselves, right? How did you end up working for Ozpin? Honestly, I half-expected you to work for Atlas."

Glynda blinked at the question directed at her, but she did not refuse as she stared at the table before answering, "I… originally always wanted to enrol at Beacon."

Claude raised his eyebrows at the revelation, but did not say anything, letting Glynda to continue. "But one thing led to another ended up with me enrolling in Atlas." She took off her glasses to rest her eyes. "...At first, I thought my calling was to work in Atlas, but eventually, when I graduated, I ended up choosing to take an internship program at Beacon Academy. That's when I met Headmaster Ozpin."

"...And he scouted you straight away?" Claude interrupted.

"It all began normally." Glynda replied, ignoring the interruption. "Helping out with paperwork, schedules, appointments, even assisting in lectures and classes as well; until on the last day of my internship, when he told me the same thing he did you." She took another sip of her drink. "In fact, he invited me along with team STRQ."

Claude wanted to make a comment, but he stopped himself after his sense of reason understood why Ozpin did not extend the invitation to CBPR - or what was left of it; the team was simply too fractured to bear the responsibility. Not to mention, _Summer_ was the leader of team STRQ. "...And you accepted." Claude concluded.

"Another fact - no, I didn't accept straight away." Glynda sighed. "I was actually skeptical for a few days. Unable to accept the concept of magic, Seasonal Maidens, someone who is controlling Grimm from behind the scenes, and what you and Summer are." Glynda met Claude's silver orbs with her green ones. "But perhaps because Summer was aware of the last part herself, she could see eye-to-eye with Ozpin. I only accepted after witnessing what Summer can really do, when I happened to accompany team STRQ on a mission."

Claude only nodded in understanding, as a small smile appeared on his face. "Just leave it to Summer to make a lasting impression." He said with a chuckle.

"I think she learned it from you." Glynda retorted with a good-natured smirk.

"Please, she's the one who taught me how to make a good impression." Claude waved off.

"Point, but I meant that she knew how to make positive impressions after seeing your terrible ones."

"Maybe, yeah…" Claude sighed. "...Summer was simply that good at dealing with people."

"...Making everyone, including me, wonder if she's actually the older one instead of you." Glynda finished, her smile dimmed a bit.

The two then fell into another companionable silence, their faces serene, reminiscing the good old days and enjoying each other's presence.

Eventually, time moved on. "I think we've spent enough time here." Claude downed the rest of his luke-warm drink and stood up. "I say we turn in for the night, we have tomorrow, after all."

Glynda wordlessly agreed as she stood up as well.

* * *

After parting with Glynda, Claude put the papers away and made his way towards the library. Truth to be told, some of the books he had were already overdue to be returned - good thing that Goodwitch did not poke her nose around that. Thus, in order to avoid unnecessary problems with Glynda, Claude decided to put the books on the dropbox quickly.

A few minutes later, Claude had arrived at the library and had quickly dropped the books at the reception. However, before he left, he sensed another presence inside the room, as well as a faint noise from the deeper parts of the library. He carefully followed the noise, and was greeted by the sight of Ruby sleeping on the floor at a corner, with her hood over her head, her back was leaning against the wall and the shelf, with several books next to her, and one book on her lap.

Claude sighed as he smiled at the girl; judging from her uniform, it was safe to assume that she had been studying and falling asleep without anyone's notice. When he came closer and knelt down to check on her, he ended up snorting when he noticed she was drooling a bit in her sleep. "Good work for today." He whispered softly as he caressed her head, causing Ruby to smile and softly moan from under her hood.

Then, he noticed there was someone behind him; turning his head around, he was greeted by the sight of Weiss approaching. "Mr. Cole?"

"Hey, there." Claude waved his hand and moved a bit to show Weiss the state of her partner. "...Looking for her?" He pointed his thumb at the sleeping girl.

At the sight of her leader/partner sleeping, Weiss could only sigh as she came closer and knelt down as well. "I'm sorry about this, sir. Yang told me that Ruby hasn't come back to the room. We've been looking for her." She then turned her attention to her partner, "Ruby, wake up." She did not speak too harshly, as she reached out and rocked Ruby's body to wake her. "Come on, you dolt. You can't sleep like this!" She spoke a bit louder, her face was flustered with the knowledge that a teacher was watching.

Claude on the other hand, simply watched with amusement in his eyes.

"Mrbll… Cookies…"

Ruby's sleep-reply caused Weiss' blush to deepen, and a giggle to escape from Claude's lips. "Yes, yes, I'll get you some later, just wake up!" She harsh-whispered again, still rocking Ruby's body. At any other time, the sight of her leader could have been adorable, but in front of a teacher? That was just embarrassing.

Feeling that Weiss has had enough, Claude took a calming breath and placed a hand on her shoulder. "That's alright, Weiss. I'm sure that your partner is exhausted."

Weiss glanced between the teacher and her partner for a second before she sighed herself. "I guess I have to notify Blake and Yang. I can't carry her all the way back alone." She whipped out her scroll.

"No, there's no need." Before Weiss could have press any buttons, Claude scooted closer to Ruby. He placed one of his hands beneath her legs and shoulders, and he stood up with her in tow. "I've got her. Just tell your team to wait in your room."

Weiss' cheeks darkened as she looked left and right awkwardly. "Um, you don't have to go that far, sir. I'm sure Blake and Yang won't mind to help."

"Please, I'm just doing my job. The sooner you all got your rest the better, you have another day to look forward to, after all. Besides, she's not that heavy." Claude reasoned, while gazing at the girl in his arms, whom smiled as she unconsciously snuggled herself closer to his chest.

After staring at the comfortable face of her leader, Weiss heaved another sigh. "If you insist, then, thank you for the help. Again, I'm very sorry for the trouble."

"It's no trouble at all." Claude replied as they began their way back to the dorms.

As they walked, Weiss glanced at the man who was carrying her partner. "May I ask something, Mr. Cole?"

"You already did, so ask away." Claude tilted his head in affirmative.

"Do you…" Weiss paused for a second, re-thinking of the words she wanted to say. "...Have any kind of intention towards Ruby?"

Claude blinked once, then twice at Weiss when she asked the question. "I… just want to guide her to be a huntress as best as I can; of course, that also applies for the rest of you. Is there something wrong?"

"No, nothing. It's just… I couldn't help but notice that you've been spending a lot of time with Ruby." Weiss reasoned.

"Really?" Then Claude tried to contemplate what he heard so far. "Well… maybe you're right. But is that such a bad thing?" he was genuinely confused of where this was going.

"Not necessarily, but…. I'm worried that you're giving Ruby… too much special treatment. Even you are doing it now." Weiss decided to drive the point across.

Claude stopped on his tracks, looking down at his niece as he looked back to the time he had spent with her. Had he been committing favouritism? As far as he knew, he had made sure to give equal attention when he was teaching in combat class. Jaune might had been his apprentice, but he deemed spending time with his team could help the blonde teen growing for the time being.

However, his silence gave a wrong signal to the heiress. "I'm sorry if I came out as presumptuous. I shouldn't-"

"No, you did nothing wrong." Claude interrupted as he gave her a small smile. "Your words gave me a few things to think about… Thank you, Weiss. I'll take your feedback in mind."

Weiss only nodded with a content smile. She wanted to say more about how Sterling treated Ruby, but she held herself back when she noticed the way he regarded her. There was something in the way he looked at Ruby that Weiss could not describe properly, but it was definitely nothing improper. Nevertheless, she could not say anything more without further leads; not to mention Ruby was stirring in his arms.

"Oops, I think we're disturbing her." Claude whispered as he adjusted his hold on her before he started to walk again with Weiss following behind him.

"Mm…"

Ruby hummed in her sleep as her lips quivered. In return, Claude simply whispered a few hushes, as if he was treating a little child in his arms. Weiss could not help but raised one of her eyebrows, although she did not say anything.

"...Cookies." The last comment that escaped Ruby's lips was not unexpected, however, the unexpected was that Ruby suddenly leaned in and fastened her lips and teeth onto Claude's exposed neck. Her appreciative sound as she chewed against his aura caused both Claude to raise his eyebrows and Weiss to widen her eyes in shock.

Weiss immediately began to panic at her partner's display. "R-Ruby! Stop it! That's not a cookie!" She wanted to rock her, but she ended up waving her arms awkwardly.

Claude on the other hand, only giggled more as he simply quickened his walk. "Gee, what do I do with you?"

* * *

 **Omake**

"...Are you sure about this?"

"I still can't confirm it, Tai. After all, this is something I heard from Yang not long ago."

At night, Claude was talking with one Tai Yang Xiao Long via his scroll. One could say it was kind of a parent-teacher conference, only with some… strange circumstances revolving around them. "Which brings me this question; was Ruby popular back at Signal?"

Tai sighed, "As a matter of fact, she was." He replied. "Sure, her popularity was dwarfed by Yang's, but as her homeroom teacher and her father, I've noticed several looks from the rest of the nerdier boys."

"Was she aware of that?"

"Ruby? Not a chance." Tai scoffed. "No offence, but ever since she wanted to be a huntress, she's more interested in weapons and fighting rather than boys. However, her hobby became part of her charm. I caught some rumours calling her, 'adorkable'. Seriously, where did that come from?"

Claude nodded slowly in understanding - a dork, as well as adorable, it fit.

"Rather, why are you asking if Ruby was popular?" Tai's question broke his musing.

"It's because it's possible that Ruby's crush is someone from Signal." might have been unlikely, but still possible.

"I see. Y'know what? I'll look into this as well while you look into Beacon. We'll talk about our findings later."

"Fair enough, I'll look through the first to fourth years one more time." Claude nodded in agreement.

"Just to let you know, I'm thinking to buy this nice-looking shotgun I found on internet. Wanna take a look?"

"Sure, might wanna give it a field test as well. Catch you later, Tai."

Then the line went off.

* * *

 **For those who are following/subscribing me, I just added a small announcement in bold letters at the bottom of my profile. Go check it out!**

 **Ahsoei, over and out.**


	21. End of The First Term (II)

**RWBY: The Redeemer**

* * *

 **What's up, everybody! Despite the block, job-hunting, life's demand, etc., I managed to finish another draft! Let's hope that I can proceed with my other projects as well!**

 **For those who noticed, the final scene on last chapter was based on 'White Sheep' by Couer Al'Aran. For those who don't know about him (which I doubt it), check out his stories, they're amazing!**

 **Without further ado, enjoy!**

* * *

 **Beta-read by Starlight's Poet**

 **Chapter 20: End of The First Term (II)**

Ruby had decided - her friends sucked, her team sucked, life at Beacon Academy sucked. At the moment, as she stood and pressed her forehead against the bookshelf in the library, all she wanted was simply finding a deep hole for her to die quietly in. Everything was because she fell asleep in the same library on the previous night.

From what Ruby had learned in the morning, in a fit of sleep-talking, she had given Sterling a _hickey_. Worse, her team had witnessed the act while she was being carried _bridal style_ all the way from the library to her bed last night. The information alone was enough to embarrass the hell out of her.

Of course, Yang being Yang, treated the coming morning as if her birthday came sooner; namely, relentless teasing. Obviously, no matter how hard Ruby trying to explain and defend her dignity, her words fell on deaf ears as Yang would easily come up with new 'romantic' scenarios of what had happened. Even Weiss and Blake had quipped at least one jab at her.

At least Sterling himself was not around during breakfast time - Ruby was grateful for the small miracles.

However, as if to make matters even worse that it already has, even team JNPR took pleasure in her suffering, Nora in particular. Ren did not make any remarks, but this was Ren she was talking about. However, Ruby did catch a small smirk at his poker face.

No matter - now that it was a free period, Ruby was going to use it to put everything behind. No more teasing and nonsense about her crushing over Sterling. Seriously, where did that come from in the first place? Sure, Sterling was cool - his weapon was awesome, he was fun to hang out with, and he's a kickass huntsman. Who wouldn't look up to him? Ha, stupid Yang being stupid. Meanwhile, Ruby's pout remained on her face as she took several books and materials for her first-semester test.

She was distracted with her thoughts enough that she did not realise the other occupant of the table she took for herself. She put down the books, sat down and found her eyes meeting with a pair of silver eyes like herself.

"Oh, hey, Ruby." Claude smiled as he looked up from his own reading.

 _O' god, kill me now_ \- Ruby froze on her seat as her eyes widened at the size of saucers. Of all people she had to run into, Sterling was the last person she expected.

Obviously, she was not upset with him; in fact, she did not know how to face him after what she had done. Her eyes automatically trailed to his neck, particularly at the spot where her lips had been planted on the previous night. There was a faint mark which caused her cheeks to heat up.

"...Ruby?" _Oh no_ \- her silence must have made him worried, but she could not help it; it was just so awkward right now. _Quick, dummy! Say something back! Anything!_

"...Bweh?!" That was the only reply that came out from her mouth. _Ruby, you are an absolute disgrace_.

Claude blinked at his niece's strange behaviour before he furrowed his eyebrows slightly in concern. "Ruby? You okay?"

 _Okay, let's try again. Come on, stop embarrassing yourself!_

"U-um, y-yes, I'm fine! How are you doing?" She could have said those words better, but it was the best she could manage.

Thankfully, Claude seemed to relax again as his smile returned. "I'm fine, thanks. Just killing some free time is all."

Ruby nodded, but her eyes glanced at the faint mark on Sterling's neck again before her blush re-appeared. Better to get it out of the way, now or never. "Um-!"

"Oh, I gotta go." Claude suddenly piped up, his eyes were looking at a direction, which Ruby quickly turned to follow. Much to her small surprise, Glynda Goodwitch was waiting expectantly at the library entrance, pose professional with her crossed arms and stoic expression. "Sorry, Ruby. Did you want to say something just now?"

"Uh, nothing! Nothing at all! Good luck with work!" Ruby was a bit curious about what Sterling wanted to do with Professor Goodwitch, but who was she to interfere with business between huntsman and huntress? Besides, she found herself slightly relieved, yet disappointed at him leaving.

Claude eyed Ruby for a few seconds before he smiled and nodded again. "If you say so. I'll see you later, Ruby. Good luck with the study!" He then walked away with Ruby waving sheepishly at him. The girl also made an effort to look collected and presentable when she saw Glynda's eyes glancing at her for a second before walking away with the younger teacher in tow.

Once the adults were out of her sight, Ruby sighed with a groan as she dropped her head on the desk with a loud 'thud'.

oXo

"Chaperoning Ms. Rose again, I see." Glynda remarked as she walked with Claude side by side.

"I… don't think what I did there could be considered as 'chaperoning', though." Claude retorted.

"Not according to the little bird I heard from, no." Glynda glanced at Claude with a flicker of amusement in her eyes. "...You've been spending a lot of time with Ms. Rose, and those times were used by helping her schoolwork."

"Isn't that part of my job here?" Claude raised an eyebrow.

"True, but I'm saying that-", Glynda suddenly stopped - both in her speech and her trek, prompting Claude to stop as well and regard her questioningly. She thought she was seeing something when she glanced at him; but eventually she could not ignore it, because she noticed there was _actually_ something. In the next second, her hand suddenly reached for Claude's collar, tugging it away so she could have a better look at a faint red mark on his neck. "...Is that a hickey?" Glynda asked, her narrowed green eyes darted between the mark and the man.

"...No." Glynda noticed that Claude averted his eyes away from her.

" _Mr. Cole_ …" She furrowed her eyebrows as her voice gained a warning edge. "I believe you are aware that having an illicit relationship with a student is unbecoming of you as a teacher?"

Claude only sighed as he had to speak up before the situation could deteriorate further. "It was Ruby, okay?" when he saw Glynda blinking owlishly, he quickly followed up. "She fell asleep in the library last night, and when I was carrying her back to her room, she nibbled at my neck in a sleep-induced stupor."

Glynda blinked one more time as she took in Claude's story. "...I see." She nodded, finally making sense of things, before the two resumed their walk.

"Yeah, that happened." Claude shrugged, inwardly relieved that the situation had returned under control. "Weiss can testify if you're wondering."

"No, I will believe you for that." Glynda replied with her gaze remained forward. "I know you well enough that you won't make any inappropriate move towards your family of all people."

Claude cast a curious glance at Glynda's face before he smiled, "...Thanks."

"Although I did hear some rumours about you giving Ms. Rose special treatment."

Claude glanced at Glynda again, this time with his eyebrows furrowed. "...What?"

"Some students talked about how you often helped her with her homework every now and then, even after school period, you would always have time for her - homework, idle talks, and your weapon testing." Glynda threw an amused glance. "...And I thought Mr. Arc is your apprentice."

Claude sighed softly before replying - holding up a finger, "In reverse order; I do take Jaune's training seriously, however, I want him to know his team better and work on his tactical and leadership skills before I pick up the pace." He then held up a second finger. "...And I saw a student struggling with her study with her team not around to help her, what was I supposed to do?"

Glynda nodded in understanding, "I'm not saying you were wrong in helping Ms. Rose, but there are several things that teachers have to refrain themselves from, in order to allow the students to grow as a person." She then threw another glance at Claude. "You've been doing well as an interim teacher, Claude. You need to learn how to leave students to their own devices once Ozpin inaugurates you in near future."

"I'll… keep that in mind." Claude replied with a slightly heavier sigh. Was he really pampering Ruby? He was not that biased, was he? The time he spent and things he did with Ruby had been within reason - at least he believed so. While Ruby's grades had improved, the changes were not so drastic to imply his special treatment for her.

"We should pick up the pace." Glynda said, interrupting Claude's musing as she increased her walking speed. "Those paperworks won't work on themselves and we've wasted enough time."

"Yes, yes…" Claude gave an easy smile as he quickly kept up with the deputy headmistress.

oXo

"Huh, so I still missed a lot of stuff."

Sounds of papers, writing, and computer keyboards echoed across the room. Claude just stacked a pile of papers to his right on the desk before he proceeded to reach for another pile on his left, only to find Glynda just put another pile on top of it, much to Claude's chagrin. It was a day when Claude asked Glynda if he could help with the paperwork - an offer that baffled Glynda and the rest of his peers. Claude had to give both Glynda and Barty a stink eye when they took their glasses off to wipe the lenses clean, as if they were looking at some kind of hallucination.

Seriously, Claude admitted he was not the most diligent person, but he knew when he had to pull his own weight. After all, he offered to help the paperwork because he needed to get himself accustomed by the time he became an official teacher.

"Yes, you did." Glynda replied off-handedly as she returned to her own desk.

Claude sighed in exasperation, but he carried on with the paperwork nonetheless. "...I mean, I can see James and Theodore becoming headmasters, but Leonardo? No offence, but you know what I thought about him during the last time we met."

"I know Leonardo is rather… reserved in approaching issues, but he has proven himself to have a good head on his shoulders. Haven Academy has been thriving well enough under his management. In fact, the latest survey showed that display of racism in Mistral has decreased, even only a little, ever since Professor Lionheart became the headmaster of huntsmen academy."

Hearing Glynda's reasoning, Claude only shrugged as he finished another page. "Well, I will give that to him, at least; considering the way I saw Faunus had been treated in Mistral. The rest, however, remained to be seen."

"I'm sure all of us will see him in near future. All I ask of you is to behave when he sees you, considering we haven't notified him, as well as everyone else from the other kingdoms about your circumstances." Glynda sent a glance at the man.

"Yes, yes, me being a ghost and all…" Claude nodded, although they both knew the 'ghost' part would have to change as soon as he made his move, for better or worse.

Claude had lost track of time by the time he had finished signing off another pile, his fingers had started to feel numb. Seriously, why did he think working at Beacon was a good idea? He should have just gone along on secret missions with Qrow instead. More dangerous, sure, but at least there would be no paperwork - field work and fighting people were more his alley; not to mention, Qrow would know good places for booze and booties.

Then again, when image of Ruby came to his mind - perhaps working at Beacon still had its own merits.

Another minute of working later, Glynda paused at one of her papers, before she sighed and turned to Claude again. "Mr. Cole, please tell me that you have submitted the paperwork of using Professor Mulberry's workshop?" She said while addressing his alias.

The question made Claude paused as he blinked at Glynda. "...There's a paperwork?" Glynda only gave him a flat stare. "But… Harold said I could use it right away! He didn't tell me anything about paperwork!" He argued.

"He might has assumed you have known the protocols by that time." Glynda sighed as she took off her glass to massage the bridge of her nose. "Peter, Barty and I - No, Peter and Barty may be one thing, but Professor Mulberry is one of our latest additions to the Beacon staff. He's in charge of the forge, where you fixed your shield, in which the equipment, tools and materials are required to be reported for our budgeting." Glynda explained with a sigh. "Anyway, please finish the paperwork and give it to me by tomorrow evening."

Claude groaned to his desk. "Ugh, can you send it to Peter instead? I think he needs to compile the budget he used to make my new gun anyway."

"No, you're not using your old team to carry your weight. Besides, Professor Port used his own workshop when he crafted your gun, and he had submitted the necessary report."

Claude's head shot up to look at Glynda with wide eyes. "Since when Port has his own workshop?"

"Five years ago, give or take. Now, I believe this is the moment where you start working."

"Can I get my own workshop? Peter surely didn't tell me anything about it, that old fat rascal." Claude grumbled as he began working again.

* * *

The next morning, Claude was doing his morning run routine across the school ground. Of course, it did not take long until he came across someone who also shared his routine. "Morning, Pyrrha."

"Good morning, Mr. Cole." the redhead of team JNPR returned the greeting as she was clad in her workout clothes.

As they kept running at sedated pace next to each other for a few minutes, enjoying the fresh morning scent, Claude could not help but wonder; was Pyrrha the only student who woke up early to work out? Where are the senior years?

With nothing else to do, Claude decided to start a conversation. "Y'know, we should stop meeting alone like this every morning, or people are gonna talk." He could not help but to start the conversation by some mild teasing.

Apparently, Pyrrha caught the wind as her face noticeably became darker in faint red. "W-well, if you'd like, I can just change my route…"

"Hahaha, I'm kidding, I'm kidding!" Claude laughed at the reaction, earning a quick pout from the girl, before she quickly calmed herself down. "But seriously, though. Are we the only morning people here? I was kind of expecting to see more people training around." Claude added as he scanned the area around him while keeping his pace.

"As a matter of fact, there used to be." Pyrrha replied, earning a glance. "More people, I mean. Some of the third and second years used to have morning exercises during their first year, but as the year advanced, their work increased as well. Rest became more crucial, so they ended up catching all the rest they could."

Claude could not argue much; not everyone had that kind of stamina to keep waking up in early morning. Some who forced themselves ended up breaking down from extreme fatigue and even sickness, and would need even longer time to keep themselves fit. Back in the day, he also had missed several morning exercises when he was too exhausted after either mission or school assignment; Summer ended up chewing his head out when she found himself missing a couple of nights of sleep in order to train himself more.

Then again, who was he to enforce the rule of morning workout on every single student?

"Guess it can't be helped then." Claude shrugged - both of them were now making a turn at the courtyard. "By the way, where did you hear about that? The senior years, I mean." He asked between his breaths.

"Team CFVY - where Coco and Velvet are from. We have been keeping in touch since that day in the cafeteria, every now and then." Pyrrha replied, not having problem with talking while running as well.

"I see... Good to know." Claude nodded. "And, where's your team?"

"Well, Jaune ended up overworking himself a little last night, along with Nora who volunteered to coach him, so both of them are still sleeping." She giggled in amusement. "Ren chose to stay behind to prepare breakfast. He takes it quite seriously when it comes to Nora."

Claude snorted in amusement himself before asking again, "...And? How's your leader doing so far?"

"Oh, Jaune's been doing well." Pyrrha's face noticeably brightened at the topic. "He might had started on the wrong foot, but he is a quick learner with a proper guidance. He has done wonderfully as far as I've observed. Speaking of…. I'm wondering when you will step up his training, Mr. Cole. After all, you did put him under your apprenticeship."

Claude stared at Pyrrha for a second, but he eventually gave a soft smile as he understood her concern. "Well, there's a reason for that…" Claude rubbed his chin, his mind trying to come up with words that could properly convey his reason. "Let's see, after observing Jaune for a while, I was inspired by this quote from a certain Mistralian wise man, 'I fear not of someone who trained 10,000 different techniques-'"

However, much to Claude's mild surprise, Pyrrha suddenly followed up, "...'But I'm terrified of someone who had trained one technique for 10,000 times'."

"There, you got me." Claude smiled as he pointed out.

"The Grandmaster Ip Lee. Of course, I know about him; I've been taught that particular quote of his during the first period of my training." Pyrrha nodded in understanding. "Still, what does it have anything to do with Jaune's program?"

"Humour me, Pyrrha. While Jaune's reflexes, moves, and combat styles have improved to an adequate level, what do you think is his strongest point?" Claude asked.

They kept running with adequate speed, Pyrrha herself had started to work a bit of sweat on her face; thinking while maintaining her speed would not be an easy task. Nevertheless, she ended up murmuring for answers. "Well… Jaune's earnest, resilient, takes advice to heart…" A few seconds later, her eyes widened as she turned to meet Claude's knowing smile.

"Yes, you've told me yourself along with your friends when you asked me about his previous situation." Claude nodded as he tapped his finger on his temple. "It might sound far-fetched, but I believe Jaune's mind is his strongest point. The proof was during the initiation - from what I heard, Jaune was the one who came up with the plan to ambush me, right?" When Pyrrha nodded, he carried on. "Hence why I let him to stick around you and his team for the time being. Now that he can hold up on his own well enough, I say I should let his leadership skill to grow even more until the next semester. Once he knows how to harness and coordinate his team's strengths and weaknesses to the utmost limit, then I'll pick up the pace on his combat training. How does that sound?"

"That… sounds agreeable. No, in fact, I can see how this can benefit Jaune in the long run." Pyrrha nodded slowly.

"Well, now that you get it and we know he's doing fine; anything in particular to note?" Claude pushed on.

"We're getting along just fine, as far as I'm concerned. Although…" Pyrrha's expression grew slightly more somber. "He can try learning how to read the atmosphere around others… He has no ill intent, but I think he should give Weiss some break."

"Wow, he's still gunning for her?" Claude raised one of his eyebrows in amusement.

"Unfortunately." Pyrrha almost scoffed. "The attempts had been toned down ever since he became more focused on his studies, but they still have yet to stop completely." She finished with a sigh.

When Claude stared at the look on Pyrrha's face, both of them stopped running as they finished another round. While catching their breaths and stretching out their limbs, Claude spoke, "You know, Pyrrha. I think I know the reason why I keep running to you every morning."

Pyrrha blinked at the young instructor's remark before responding, "...Because this place is a good place for a morning run?"

"No, my adorable redhead for a friend…." Claude rebuked, his lips grew into a knowing grin. " _Love_ … is a beautiful thing."

Pyrrha's face immediately blushed at the 'L' word. His face was already warm enough from the running, the man's remark only made her face feeling even hotter. "I-I-I-I'm not sure what you're talking about." She stammered, doing her best to avert her flustered face away.

"No need to stress over it, Pyrrha. It's only between us two." Claude chuckled while making sure that they were alone on the courtyard. "Besides, not that I don't know the feeling; you feel like finding a new goal, a new trophy that is actually worth fighting for, worth striving for, making your past achievements seemed trivial compared to this one."

"Mr. Cole, my partner is not a trophy." Pyrrha turned to Claude with a frown on her face.

"Okay, sorry. I don't mean it to sound like that." Claude held up his arms to placate her. "My point is, you've found the one; and I say you shouldn't beat around the bush and stake your claim, hold _tight_ on that love. Otherwise, you will lose that chance forever, and trust me; it's like…" His face turned sour for a second before carried on. "...It's gonna end up like an ugly contest where everyone was a winner. Basically, it's _bad_."

"Okay…?" Pyrrha sweat-dropped at the explanation, but her frown let up though the blush remained. "But I'm… sure you're looking too much into this. Are you speaking through experience, by any chance?" she returned with a glance, inwardly hoping to score a revenge.

"...You can say that."

Pyrrha certainly did not expect to see Claude's smile dimmed slightly with the look in his eyes grew somewhat distant. However, before the conversation could have gone further, another presence let himself known.

"Pyrrha." Both of them turned to see Ren approaching them, who nodded at the instructor. "Good morning, Mr. Cole. Pyrrha, Jaune and Nora have woken up and I've finished with breakfast. Care to join us?" Ren said with another look at Claude, as if the invitation was also extended to him.

In return, Claude patted Pyrrha shoulder as he prepared to leave. "You join your team, Ms. Nikos. I gotta join with the other staff as well." Without waiting for the two's responses, Claude jogged off.

"I'll see you guys later."

* * *

Once Claude had left the courtyard, he quickly finished the rest of his morning rituals - a quick shower, and a simple breakfast with Peter and Barty. Small talks were exchanged, and Claude quickly went on a separate way back to his room, looking at papers and books on his desk.

He checked the time-table again; since the examination period was coming soon, the combat classes where he was usually in charge of, along with Glynda, would be less frequent, in favour for the students to study the more theoretical side of being a huntsman and huntress. Basically, other than his schedules to oversee some classes as an intern - Barty, Peter and Peach had allowed him some free time.

The free time? It was for Claude to review the conversation he had with Roman.

oXo

" _So, basically…" Claude began; sitting in front of Roman inside the interrogation room with tables and chairs they could salvage from their earlier tussles. Barty and Peter had joined inside the room, with Glynda and Ozpin listening from next door. "...You don't have much on their plans."_

 _Roman's silence as he dragged in his cigar was enough to make everyone sighed in disappointment - Peter shook his head with crossed arms, Barty took his glasses off to rub his weary eyes, and Claude ran his hand through his locks._

 _Seeing his old friends' reaction, Roman huffed out a smoke as he threw his arms up. "Oh, can it, will ya?! Every time I tried to dig deeper, she always dodged, and when I pushed too far, she went pyromaniac! What the fuck was I supposed to do?!"_

" _Alright, alright, easy, Rome." Claude placated by holding his arms up. "You still have something at least, right? Let's just work with what we have at the moment. We can start with the profile." Once everyone nodded in agreement, he then turned to the two-way mirror. "Oz, Glynda, can we have someone over to draw sketches?"_

" _I'm afraid we will have to wait, Mr. Rose." Ozpin's voice was heard through the intercom. "The sketch artist that VPD usually have is catching a cold, so they are looking for a replacement. Don't worry, it won't take long."_

" _Is that so? Then we don't have to wait at all." Peter stood up as he put his right hand on his back and his left fist on his chest proudly. "I shall draw the sketches of our suspects."_

 _Claude blinked at the older man. "You can do sketches?"_

" _It began as… a secondary hobby. I'm glad that it will be of use now." Peter nodded._

 _Claude stared at Peter for a few seconds before he nodded again, "Okay, we'll have Peter to draw the faces, then. Now we need some papers and pencils."_

oXo

Claude stared at the piece of paper he held in front of him. _Damn, Peter can really draw faces_ \- he nodded while pursing his lips in amusement at the drawing he had in front of him. Despite being simply a black-and-white pencil drawing based on verbal description, the details and effort that Peter had put were enough for him and everyone else to narrow things down.

He kept staring at the drawing before him and glanced at two other drawings on his desk - the people who had been calling the shots for Roman's latest heists together with the White Fang. So far, they were still grasping straws, considering nobody ever heard of their names; however, there were still several information that caught his attention. One of them in particular was the picture of a male he was holding.

oXo

" _Are you sure that's his surname? Like, his_ real _surname?"_

 _Claude asked as he pointed at the picture of a young man on the table. Barty was scrutinizing the drawings, while Peter sported somewhat uncomfortable look. Roman on the other hand, simply smoked another cigarette._

" _Surprising, isn't it?" Roman retorted with a knowing smirk. "But I'm afraid so. I overheard the other brat addressing him by that name when they're having their usual lover's spat; not to mention, I already saw Marcus in him when we met for the first time."_

 _Claude hummed as he stared at the picture again. "...Is Marcus also in on this?"_

" _Thankfully, no. Since he's dead." Roman puffed out a smoke before tilting his head at the picture. "The brat killed him."_

oXo

Claude sighed through his nose as rubbed his chin in contemplation as he kept his gaze on the drawing of one Mercury Black. He was not sure if Roman's intel about the guy would make things easier or the opposite.

As far as he remembered, back in the day, Marcus Black had been an infamous assassin who was already hard to deal with. Team CBPR and STRQ might had been students when they first met respectively, but those encounters were enough for them to learn that Marcus was dangerous - both in skills and Semblance; now they had to deal with someone who was either on par or stronger than the assassin himself. Handicapped by alcoholism or not, killing someone on Marcus Black's caliber was already a feat in itself.

That also gave Claude another uncomfortable conclusion. He was no assassin, but he had been introduced to the customs and traditions of criminal underworld. Most assassins who wanted to pass down their works to either successors, would have the said successors to kill them after giving them torturous training, in order to complete their conditioning into a heartless killer. What's worse, the method was not limited even to those who are blood-related.

In other words - Mercury Black was a full-fledged assassin, as if being able to best Marcus Black alone was not bad enough.

Claude then moved his gaze to another drawing, this time a young woman - Emerald Sustrai. Roman could not get much about her, as he had never heard about her before. But as far as he had observed, the girl would be seen together with Mercury whenever they were visiting or on jobs, and looking at their interaction, she appeared to be the more obedient one towards the ring-leader… who caused Claude's face to frown at the last drawing of a familiar face.

oXo

" _...You did what?" Roman narrowed his eyes at Claude as he took the cigarette off his mouth. Peter and Barty were looking somewhat amused at Claude's side of story._

" _I didn't do anything. She's the one who just came to me first and bought me a drink. All we did afterwards just talked." Claude retorted in defense._

 _Roman stared at Claude hard for a few seconds before he asked, "...Did you get her number?" for some reason, his tone sounded fearful._

" _No." Claude noticed the small sigh that escaped Roman's lips. "...But I've asked Junior to look into her."_

 _Then, Roman sighed a bit louder as he rubbed his head. "I think you should tell Junior to pull back, unless you want to hear the news of his burned corpse by next week or two."_

 _In return, Claude narrowed his eyes at Roman. "...Is she really that bad?"_

" _Worse." Roman's eyes hardened. "I've seen myself, things that she's capable of. Even if it's a Semblance, I've never seen anything like hers before…. Other than you."_

 _Then suddenly, the intercom inside their room came to life again, revealing Ozpin's voice. "Mr. Torchwick, would you mind elaborating further?" He asked with a suspecting tone._

oXo

Claude let out a long sigh as he leaned back against his chair, his face was looking at the ceiling above him. The woman who he met at Junior's club that night, Cinder, was highly possible to be the Fall Maiden - one of many existences that was considered to be fictional, or perhaps, after looking back at the story he heard from Qrow's side, she was more akin to be a pseudo Fall Maiden, considering her power was not entirely whole yet.

Things began to make sense as Claude put one hand on his silver eyes, remembering the sensation when he met Cinder for the first time. Another thing that became clear to them, was Cinder's endgame at Vale - or to be more precise, Beacon Academy. The question was, how would she achieve that said endgame. For the time being, Ozpin decided that the best course of action was to gain more intel upon the enemy, since the evidence and testimony they got from Roman were mostly circumstantial. For all they knew, the new Fall Maiden could be a different person - unlikely, but still possible.

However, the problem did not end there. To be precise, there was one more problem that Claude could not delay.

oXo

 _Roman was staring at the latest picture Claude had put on the table - an image of certain woman with silver eyes, in which the image was crossed with red ink. The crook then turned to stare at the stoic-looking Claude. "Where did you get this?"_

" _I got it from Qrow, who found it at somewhere around Vacuo. Did you hear things about assassination or anything like that?"_

 _Seeing Claude's expression made Barty and Peter shifted their positions in discomfort, while Roman took another drag of his cigar, closing his eyes as he revelled in the taste of nicotine. Huffing out another cloud of smoke, Roman then met his eyes with Claude's. "I've heard about a bunch of nasty shits out there, but this…" He tapped his finger on Summer's photograph. "You do know that you siblings have pissed a lot of people off in the past, don't you?"_

 _However, Barty suddenly intervened while fixing the glasses on his face. "Roman, we and team STRQ also have stepped on a lot of wrong feet as well, you know." Peter also nodded in agreement._

 _Roman barked a laugh. "You wish! It's more like we were dragged along…"_

" _Boys." Claude snapped his fingers a couple of times to get the attention back. "Yes, the point is we have lots of enemies. How long do you need to narrow it down?" he turned back to Roman._

" _Considering when the hit happened, I assure you it's gonna take a while." Roman huffed. "But I don't think I'll be able to focus on that one yet, if you know what I mean?" He raised his eyebrows sarcastically._

 _Claude breathed out - it meant he probably had to either investigate on his own, or he had to put it aside until better time. Peter walked over and placed his hand on his shoulder supportingly, prompting him to nod in thanks._

" _Although…" Everyone's attention returned to Roman who suddenly spoke up, he moved the tobacco between his fingers in lecturing manner. "...There's a rumour that Marcus' last job ended in disaster, which probably made him drowning himself shit-faced; something about his target being a huntress in white-cloak."_

oXo

Claude could not help but snort a little. On one side, he was proud that Summer had gotten strong enough to repel Marcus Black; but on the other hand, assuming Marcus had kicked the bucket before Summer, it meant that whoever got a jump on her, was more formidable than Marcus.

That story in particular had become redundant, considering what had happened to Marcus himself, but it was a small start - emphasis on the 'start'.

That gave even more possible culprits in Claude's mind - to begin with, Marcus was not even the most dangerous foe he had fought. Considering twenty years had past, a lot of people that Claude encountered would have become stronger by now. Still, considering how long the case of Summer Rose had gone cold, Claude's only option for the time being was to focus on the situation around Vale, Beacon and himself.

His frown deepened at the thought, albeit there was a hint of anxiousness on his face. The end of the first term was approaching fast, which meant he had to come clean towards his nieces. He already explained the reasons to his friends that the best time to reveal the truth would be during the semester break. The revelation would definitely ruin their well-deserved vacation, something that Claude felt bad about, but it was better than giving them the distraction bomb when they also had studies to worry about.

He did not realise that he had spent a lot of time in his room until the clock alarm in his scroll went off. His free period was over, now Claude had to tend to his other duties.

* * *

 **Yes, it's another filler about how everyone spend their last semester in Beacon Academy. The actual twist of events won't happen until middle volume 2... I hope. Leave a review, folks! And before signing off, let me present a bonus! Enjoy!**

 **Omake**

It was that time of the year, where every student who wanted to become huntsman and huntress must face their biggest adversary - end of year examination.

Young Peter Port of first-year students heaved a deep sigh after reading the nth pages of his history book, massaging his tired eyes. Around him were his teammates; sitting at different corners of the table that was covered in mountains of books, papers, mugs and cups of coffee and tea; take-out food boxes, and a few bottles of energy drinks. Everyone, him included, were looking haggard after studying for god-knows how long ever since they had gotten the permission to use the library after-curfew from the Beacon staff.

At a corner diagonal from him was his leader, Claude Rose; who was reading the dust-theory textbook with a frown on his face, all while resting his head by chin on top of his palm. He had a good head on his shoulders and eyes for observations, which contributed in making him a team-leader; however, Peter knew that his leader was not a studious type.

Peter then glanced at his partner across him - Bartholomew Oobleck, who was reviewing different notes and papers while fixing his glasses position every now and then. Out of everyone on the team, his partner was the most well-read; he should be fine.

Then, last but not least, Peter glanced at the person next to him - his leader's partner, Roman Torchwick. For some reason, with stress being one of the possibilities, Roman had moved the tie around his neck to around his head, making a ridiculous sight of himself. However, what caught Peter's eyes was the fact that Roman was _diligently_ writing notes. The said notes being a small piece of paper, which he wrote on, with a text-book propped to cover his handiwork, as if Roman did not want anybody to notice what he was trying to pull off.

Peter narrowed his eyes suspiciously at his resident trouble-maker teammate. "Roman, what are you doing?" his question seemed to prompt the others to look up from their own readings in curiosity.

Roman did not even bother to look back at Peter as he kept writing. "Just writing notes, nothing to worry about…."

A second later, Peter whipped his arm out to snatch the 'note' out of Roman's sight before ripping it to shreds, much to the latter's horror. "Wha- Pops, you asshole! Do you have any idea how long I took to make one cheat sheet!?" Roman shouted as he stood up from his seat in agitation.

It was a good thing that there was nobody else in the library to catch on what was happening.

"If you have time to do that, why don't you study seriously!?" Peter barked back while slamming his hands on the table to stand up as well.

"I would if I could!" Roman fired back, before he spread his arms out. "But do you honestly believe we can cram materials worth of one fucking year in a single night!?

"Even so- hm?" Peter was about to retort when he caught something in his sight. He walked closer and inspected the necktie around Roman's head. At the end of the fabric, there was another 'note' attached. "What is this now…?" Peter narrowed his eyes accusingly before he quickly pulled Roman aside until he was completely facing him. Then, he proceeded to do a thorough body search on Roman's uniform.

Lo and behold, Peter pulled out numerous 'notes' from Roman's collar, sleeves, hems, pockets - basically, his entire nook and cranny. Looking at the amount of cheat sheets Roman had prepared on his person, Peter's expression was absolutely mortified. "You bastard! Have you fallen so far!? Do you truly want to become a huntsman by cheating?!" Peter yelled as he grabbed Roman by his collar.

"Is that bad!? At this rate we're not gonna be huntsmen anyway!"

Seeing Peter and Roman were fighting, Barty rose up from his seat to mitigate the damage. "Guys, come on-!"

SLAM!

Everyone paused on what they were doing to see Claude stood up from his seat with his hands pressed on the table. The leader was staring down at the table with unsettling look on his face. With a deep breath, Claude looked up to regard both Peter and Roman. "...Our team will not resort to this kind of cheap trick."

That one sentence caused everyone else to blink - in fact, Peter unconsciously let Roman go as both of them calmed down to listen to their leader. "We all need answers - _solutions_ to pass this farce of final test." Claude said as he walked towards the library entrance. "...But that answer is not here."

When Claude opened the entrance door and was about to walk out, Roman quipped with cynical tone. "And where the hell do you think you can find this so-called answer? Faculty room, with copies of test sheets and all?"

They noticed Claude's body gave the smallest wince - that was enough answer as the three members of team CBPR stared at their leader's back on them with blank looks. A few seconds later - without looking back, Claude decided to book it and slammed the door shut.

"After him!"

All hells broke loose on the night before the final exam as the members of team CBPR rushed out of the library to catch their wayward leader. How they would pass their year, it was a story for another time.


	22. End of The First Term (III)

**RWBY: The Redeemer**

* * *

 **Happy New Year 2020, folks! I know it's late, but I swear that works and real life responsibility truly overwhelmed me. Nevertheless, I hope we can have another good new year and support each other! For those who are following me or my One-Punch DxD story, I promise you that the Legacy story is on the way and has hit over 6k words. Considering how long since the last time I updated, I will see to make the next update to be pretty lengthy one. Without further ado, enjoy!**

* * *

 **Beta-read by Starlight's Poet**

 **Chapter 21: End of The First Term (III)**

Team RWBY and JNPR were all gathering inside a lecture hall with Claude standing before them.

"I honestly don't think we should be doing this. We have tests to study for." Weiss spoke as she crossed her arms. She was clad in her usual combat attire with her rapier at her hip, along with everyone else.

"You're not wrong." Claude easily waved and he put his arms on his hips. "...But from what I've seen, sitting and reading textbooks all day is not exactly healthy, no? I mean, even team JNPR always makes time to do exercise every now and then." He nodded at the team in question, who simply glanced at each other.

Team RWBY, particularly, Ruby and Yang, actually agreed at the notion. "Well, who am I to say no to a good work-out?" She said as she pushed and cracked her knuckles against each other.

"I think we've been confined in our dorms and classrooms long enough." Ruby quipped.

Blake simply shrugged; half-uncaring and half-agreed with the others' opinion. Weiss was still frowning for another few seconds, but she soon sighed in resignation. "Alright, I guess an exercise can refresh our minds… What are we doing, then?"

"Well…" Claude interrupted while awkwardly scratching his cheek. "I did say that you girls need some work-out, I never said this is gonna be an actual work-out session, did I?"

The jovial atmosphere surrounding the students suddenly dropped. "Err… What?" Nora could not help but ask.

"I shall take over." The students blinked and straightened up as soon as they saw Ozpin walked in and stood by Claude's side.

"Headmaster, sir." Claude greeted with a nod.

"Mr. Cole." Ozpin returned the greeting before he returned to address the students. "Students, welcome to your practical exam."

Every student's eyes widened at the announcement, and a few seconds later, it was Ruby who managed to croak out a word. "...What?"

"You heard the man." Claude smiled as he tilted his head at Ozpin, whom took a sip from the steaming mug of coffee he had been bringing along. "Before your written exam, we're gonna have your practical today. Headmaster Ozpin is kind enough to be the one grading you all."

Then, the students erupted.

"What?!"

"We actually have a practical exam?"

"Nobody told us anything!"

"Wait, what about Sun?!"

"We barely practiced! Most of our time were spent on studying!"

"Okay, okay! Pipe down, everyone!" Claude shouted while clapping his hands to get everyone's attention back. Once everyone was calm enough to listen again, he spoke, "This maybe sudden, but that's a life of huntsman for you! You can't use those excuses when you have a long-term mission at outside world!" He paused to let the information sink into them. "A huntsman is expected to be combat ready 24/7. It's not fun, I admit, but think of this practical as a lesson when an emergency situation suddenly falls onto your lap. Oh, as for Mr. Wukong, Haven Academy has finished their written and practical assessment in preparation of Vytal Festival, so he technically got a free pass, although he's actually doing another assignment from Beacon. We can't have slackers around, can we?" Claude finished with a knowing smirk.

The students were still not entirely amused, but at least their faces were much less reluctant. "Good, now I'm gonna make my own preparations while our headmaster here will explain you the rules." Claude tapped on Ozpin's shoulder and he walked towards the door. He then turned to give one last salute before walking out. "See you later, kids."

Everyone then watched Sterling walked outside. Once the door was closed, the students turned their attention to the headmaster who was taking another sip from his mug. "Alright, students. I will make this quick; you will split into partners and go to the designated combat halls sent to your scrolls. The one waiting inside there will explain the rest of the rules to you." Ozpin then took a pause to let the information sunk into the students, who glanced at their respective partners.

His lips quirked up into a tiny smirk, having another thing in store for them. "...However, your partner will be decided by lot." As soon as he caught their expressions turned into a small apprehension, he quickly followed up. "A huntsman's job is full of unexpected variables. While you will most likely to go on missions with your team for the next four years, there's no guarantee that you will always end up working with your partners. Learning to work with your other team members will help you in the long run."

The students' faces calmed down as they slowly came to understand the logic behind the settings. Ruby in particular, was rather reluctant at the fact that she probably would not be partnered with Weiss, but at least she could work something out with Blake or Yang. The others also seemed to have the same line of thought.

Ozpin then picked out the tablet from his suit, tapping on the screen as he proceeded to draw lots for the pairing arrangements. A minute later, the result came up and he looked at the screen for a second before addressing the students. "These are the match-ups…."

* * *

Yang let out a breath as she walked down the hallway towards her designed classroom with Weiss next to her. "It's you and me now, Weissy. Let's nail this practical, shall we?"

"Obviously, we will pass this assessment with flying colours." Weiss lightly scoffed. "But please don't get carried away. We still don't know who our examiner is."

Per Ozpin's instructions, while she was still paired within her team, Yang had been paired with Weiss while Ruby with Blake, and the four had walked separate ways towards their respective rooms a while ago.

"Yeah, who are we up against?" Yang wondered as she looked up, hooking her hands behind her head. Considering the set-ups, it was safe to assume that they might have to fight a teacher. "Any ideas?" She threw a glance at her teammate.

"There are four pairings in total including us, so there will be four examiners as well..." Weiss said as she held her chin with her fingers thoughtfully.

oXo

"...Mr. Cole is definitely one of them, as well as Professor Goodwitch, who has been teaching combat class for years. I'm not sure of the other two, but Professor Port, Professor Greene and Professor Mulberry might fit the bill."

In another hallway, Pyrrha was walking while listening to Ren's input as she had been paired up with him. The former inwardly would rather to pair up with Jaune, but her rational and discipline side knew there was a time and place for such sentiment. She could only wish that Jaune would do fine, but she also knew that her partner had improved a lot since the first time they met, which gave her hope.

"Do you think we will be up against Sterling?" Pyrrha asked after Ren had finished talking.

"...You sound eager." Ren merely glanced at her for a second as he resumed his walking.

Pyrrha's face gave a light blush. "Sorry, it's just…. Fighting him for the first time was refreshing." When Ren turned his eyes at her again, she took it as a sign to elaborate. "Ever since my first championship of Mistral Regional Tournament, everyone hailed me as some kind of invincible fighter without equal. Even my instructors claimed that they had a hard time fighting me. I was at a point…. Where I thought I would be stand alone at the top for the rest of my life…" Then her face grew a smile as she let out a breath. "Then Sterling made me back into a normal girl that still has a lot to learn, to improve. As I said, it's…. Refreshing."

Ren hummed in understanding as he noticed they were closing into their destination. "In any case, let's do our best in this assessment, shall we?" He said as he gave a small smile.

"Yes, let's do this." Pyrrha nodded with her own determined smile, as she brandished her weapons before the door.

oXo

"Fear not, Jaune-Jaune! With your wits, my brawn, and my awesome hammer, this test will nothing but a breeze!"

Jaune only chuckled weakly at Nora's words of encouragement. He did not mean any offence to her, and he also considered her to be a good friend; but Jaune felt at more ease if he were to be paired with Pyrrha. He and his partner had been working and training hard together, so he was more familiar with her. Nevertheless, it would not be fair if he were to protest the current outcome; might as well making the best out of it. Besides, Nora's positive and bubbly attitude (something he wished he had more in his bones) was enough to keep his morals high, and he was grateful for it.

"...Who do you think we'll be up against, fearless leader?" Nora's question snapped him out of his funk as he blinked at her curious eyes. "Oh, do you think we're gonna fight Sterling!? Or Professor Goodwitch?! Whose legs are we gonna break?"

It never ceased to amuse and scare Jaune of how hyper Nora could be at times - _what's with her and breaking legs, anyway?_ Ren must have the patience of a saint for having been looking after her for so long. "Well, whoever it is, Nora. Let's just prepare and do our best, okay?" Jaune honestly could not think of any better comeback at Nora's jabs.

"Aye-aye, fearless leader!" Nora saluted with a grin on her face, prepping her Magnhild on her shoulder.

Jaune took a deep breath as he saw the door of their destination; _let's hope today's not gonna be a long one…_

oXo

"Oooh, this feels exciting, Blake!" Ruby said giddily as her hands shook in front of her, as she made her way through the hallway with Blake in tow.

"Easy, Ruby. We don't even know what we have to do yet." the girl in black commented but giving a small smile at her leader's attitude.

It was interesting so far, to have a leader who was two years younger than her. But Blake acknowledged that Ruby had the necessary skills on the field to be admitted into Beacon earlier than her peers. While she could be too childish at times, Blake believed that it was also the older teammates' job to support the younger ones. In any case, while she was more used to work with Yang, Blake had no problem working with Ruby. Besides, if she was found slacking behind Ruby, Yang would never let her hear the end of it.

"Say, who do you think is gonna…. Y'know, grade us?" Ruby decided to change the topic.

"Can't say." Blake shrugged. "But if I am to be honest, I'd… rather not fighting against C- Sterling." She inwardly sighed at the near slip-up.

Thankfully, Ruby did not catch that. "Why not? I mean, sure Sterling is super strong, but he's awesome! It will be fun sparring with him again."

Blake could not help but scoffed a little. "Our grades are on the line here, remember? Don't take this the wrong way, Ruby, but I'm not exactly keen if we are graded by someone who is more or less on par with the headmaster."

"Well, I guess- Wait." Ruby paused as she stopped on her tracks, prompting Blake to quirk her eyebrow at her. "...Why would you compare Sterling with Ozpin in particular?"

 _Oops_ \- Blake glanced around at her actual slip-up, but decided there was no harm in revealing that one. "Err, I... might or might not have watched Sterling sparring against headmaster Ozpin… Once."

A second later, Ruby figuratively _exploded_. "WHAT?!" She shot up right in front of Blake's face. "When?! Where?! How come were you able to see that?! Why didn't you tell, or rather, invite me?!"

Blake held up her arms to placate her bristling leader. "Whoa, whoa Ruby, calm down!" When Ruby backed away a bit, Blake quickly elaborated to avoid anymore problem. "It was at night after initiation, I was taking a night stroll when I ran to them by pure accident. Honest." She put one hand on her chest to emphasize.

Ruby was still pouting, but her glare had softened. "You could have woken me up…"

"Sorry, I thought you're all tired from initiation. If it means anything, I didn't watch the fight until the end either. I felt it's kind of rude to sneak around that night." Blake replied with an awkward smile.

Ruby sighed, "...So? You don't know who won, then?"

"No." Blake shook her head. "But as far as I remember, Sterling was faring pretty well that night."

Ruby grumbled as she continued walking with Blake by her side. "Can't believe I missed that…. Sterling vs Headmaster, that would've been epic."

"Yeah, sorry again about that." Blake said as she patted Ruby's shoulder. "Let's just focus on passing this test, okay?"

Ruby merely nodded, but it was enough for Blake. Soon they also arrived at the door leading to their class.

* * *

When Ruby and Blake entered the training hall, they could say that they did not fully expect the person waiting for them.

"Haha! Welcome to my training ground, lasses!" Peter Port greeted from the centre of the room with proud voice, his arm slapped on his jelly belly.

"Professor Port?!" Ruby and Blake were looking rather stunned at the sight of their chubby teacher.

"Yes, indeed! It is I, Peter Port, who shall oversee your practical assessment for today! In this room, we shall observe how much you have improved since the beginning of the year!" Peter said as he posed with his blunderbuss-axe - _Blowhard_ , over his shoulder. "What say you? Are you ready to test your mettle against me?" He finished while shaking his fist flamboyantly.

Ruby and Blake shared glances with each other, before they walked towards the stage and brandished their respective weapons and went into stances. The former would be lying if she said that she was not disappointed, but considering that Port was Sterling's mentor, perhaps it was as close as she could get.

Despite the lack of verbal answer, Peter smiled from beneath his thick mustache as he nodded approvingly. "Good! Now, for your assessment - all you have to do is force me to take more than three… No, five steps away from where I'm standing, in any direction. Simple, isn't it?"

Ruby and Blake blinked once, twice at their task, as they stared at Port, who was seemingly waiting for them to do or say something. "...Are you sure that's all we need to do?" Ruby voiced both her and Blake's thought. Even for a professor of Beacon Academy, it was still two against one in Ruby and Blake's favour.

Noticing the girls' hesitation, Peter's smile simply twitched wider as he bend his knees and stomped _hard_ , cracking the floor beneath him as he put up his own stance. "Yes, I am sure, young Rose."

Ruby and Blake felt a sudden chill rushed over them, as soon as they saw the glint from Peter's lidded eyes. They tightened their grip on their weapons, as they shared another glance and nod to each other, before they carefully began to circle around the teacher.

This was going to be tougher than they thought.

oXo

Yang and Weiss only stared with gaping maws at the sight of Bartholomew Oobleck sipping and enjoying his steaming coffee from his thermos.

"Ah, good day, you two. Welcome to your practical exam!" Barty greeted with his usual rapid speech. The thermos in his hand then transformed into a spear - no, a torch, since there was flame flickering at the tip.

That was Bartholomew Oobleck's signature weapon, _Antiquity's Roast_.

Weiss was the first to snap out of it as she took it upon herself to do the talking. "It's… our pleasure to be here, Professor-"

"Doctor."

Weiss paused in her curtsy as Oobleck corrected the way she addressed him. The heiress inwardly sighed as she carried on. "...Doctor Oobleck. We are looking forward to this assessment." She finished with more confident tone, which also prompted Yang to re-gather herself.

Barty nodded at the two girls. "Very well, Ms. Schnee, Ms. Xiao-Long. Please stepped on the stage and get yourselves prepared as I will explain how this assessment will go."

The doctor's high-speed speech was fortunately still possible to be followed as Weiss and Yang did as instructed. The former brandished her signature rapier while the latter deployed her gauntlets and doing some stretches.

"This practical assessment will consist of, as you might have expected, a combat against me. However, I have been given the privilege to test you in the way I see fit." Barty paused in his explanation for a second to let his words sunk into the two. Then, he carried on, "In this assessment, I shall give you a riddle, and your task will be to figure out the said riddle during the duration of the test, which is one hour. That is, if you can remain conscious by then." He finished while fixing the glasses on his face.

Weiss and Yang blinked and shared glances at the instruction. Solving riddles during fighting? Sounds easy enough, but they knew it was rather unorthodox as well. "So, we just have to answer your questions while fighting? What happens if… you know, we manage to beat you, let's say, before we solve the riddle?" Yang was the one to ask.

Barty merely chuckled at the question, a glint flashed from his spectacles. "That's a good question, Ms. Xiao-Long, very optimistic of you. However, I'm afraid that should you fail to solve my riddle, you won't get a passing grade."

Weiss and Yang tensed up - the former grew serious while the latter was lightly scowling. The doctor spoke as if they would not beat him, it was two against one. If Yang were to be honest, Oobleck did not look like the fighting type. Weiss, on the other hand, had a feeling that she could not describe, something about the doctor that might be more than meets the eye.

Noticing that the students before him were prepared enough, Barty then put on his own stance, pointing the flaming tip of his weapon at the two. "Alright, here's the riddle - What can you break, but never pick up? What can you make, but never touch? What can you create, but never fix?"

Antiquity's Roast lit up and fired a flaming projectile towards the girls, who quickly split up to dodge, leaving their previous spot to catch on fire.

Looking at the pensive expression of his two students, Barty fixed his glasses again, "The test has begun, you two! Chop chop!"

oXo

Jaune and Nora were rooted on their spots as soon as they had entered their assigned training hall.

"Mr. Arc, Ms. Valkyrie." Glynda Goodwitch stood in the middle of the room with disciplined practice. "Welcome to your practical exam. I shall be your examiner today." Seeing Jaune and Nora's stunned silence as the cue for her to carry on, she spoke again, "For this test, I shall see how far you have progressed in terms of combat, since the beginning of your first year. Note that how you perform is the key criteria for this assessment, so it would be for your best interest to give it your all."

Then, she flicked her riding crop - _The Disciplinarian_ , and her Semblance caused the spectator's seats, as well as a few chunks of the tile from the floor, to fly around her. "Your task will be a simple one; survive for the next one - no, half an hour as I engage you two. Any question?"

Seeing the sheer amount of make-shift projectiles surrounding the deputy, Jaune only let out a small whimper while Nora did not feel as confident as earlier.

oXo

Claude narrowed his eyes at the book he was reading, as a means to kill time. It was a novel that had been popular lately, especially among teenagers and young adults. He remembered that Blake also read it whenever she thought nobody was looking during Peter's lecture; it was kind of funny, to be honest.

 _Ninjas of Love_ by Patty Berdioler - after reading the first three chapters, Claude concluded that the so-called popular romance was basically a smut with an actual semblance of quality. The plot was 'okay', the twist itself was so-so but certainly not too bad, and Claude was actually interested with the character development, however… He could not help but grimace a little at the supposedly 'romantic' parts. The settings and the scenes themselves were decent, per see, but judging from the choice of words and how they were written, Claude was quite sure that the author of the novel was a virgin who picked the words and lines from some soap opera, as well as (perhaps) internet porn.

Nonetheless, now that Claude had read quite far into the story, he might as well finished it; he would just skim certain parts, though. A few minutes later, the sound of the door opening snapped Claude out of his reading, his silver eyes caught the sight of Pyrrha Nikos and Lie Ren walking side by side, looking at him with slightly incredulous and amused eyes.

When Pyrrha and Ren walked through the door, they were greeted by the sight of their young instructor balancing his sword on top of his finger by the tip of its blade, while his other hand was holding a book - _isn't that one of Blake's books?_ As soon as their eyes met, with practiced ease, Claude tossed the sword up to the air and let the weapon landed perfectly into the sheath on his back.

"So, I guess you two will be my charge, eh?" Claude greeted with a grin as he put his hand - the one that was balancing the sword, into his pants pocket while his other hand was still holding the book.

"Yes, sir." Ren replied while straightening himself up.

"We are ready." Pyrrha said with confident voice.

"Good." Claude nodded, and he returned to his reading. The room fell into a short silence as Pyrrha and Ren kept staring at the young teacher. The latter glanced at the former, who shrugged in return, not sure of what was happening. However, Claude looked up from his book and noticed their looks. "...Oh, right. The test has begun, by the way. Come at me whenever you're ready."

Pyrrha and Ren blinked, but they still reached to grab their weapons. "Um… So we just fight two on one?" The girl asked while remained standing on her spot.

"Yep." Claude glanced at them. Then, he noticed their expressions and he looked on himself. Realising their current dilemma, he immediately came up with something. "Okay, here's the deal; I just finished reading chapter 4 here." He held up his book at them to emphasize. "If you kiddos manage to land a hit on me before I finish chapter 5, then I'll pass you guys."

Pyrrha and Ren remained silent for a few seconds until the latter spoke up. "Are you… sure about this?"

Claude looked up again from his reading; Ren's face remained stoic as ever while Pyrrha's eyes seemed to narrow. At their reactions, Claude's lips only twitched into a smirk. "As sure as I can be, Ren. Are you two going to stand around all day, or... what?"

Both students shared another nod with each other as they walked to create some distance between themselves in order to surround their examiner. They would be lying if they were to say the display of arrogance from Sterling was not insulting, but they decided to keep cool minds…. And made sure the teacher before them would eat his own words.

* * *

Ozpin leaned back on his seat in his office, sipping the new blend from his mug as he watched multiple footages from his personal large computer on his desk.

Those were interesting match-ups; Ruby Rose and Blake Belladonna vs Peter Port, Weiss Schnee and Yang Xiao-Long vs Bartholomew Oobleck, Jaune arc and Nora Valkyrie vs Glynda Goodwitch, and finally, Pyrrha Nikos and Lie Ren vs Claude Rose, or should he say, Sterling Cole. Being a huntsman with long-life experience as well as headmaster, Ozpin did not have much difficulty in processing the information he received from multiple screens.

The match-ups were never planned, but when Ozpin looked back at the pairings and the student's profiles, he found the arrangements to be perfect. It appeared that Fate was favouring everyone involved at the moment.

Ozpin's lips twitched up slightly at the battles happening before him. It was obvious that Glynda was more than capable of giving Mr. Arc and Ms. Valkyrie a hell of a time, but his interest leaned more towards the other three - who he had been keeping tabs on as of late.

Ever since they became teachers of Beacon Academy, before Claude's return, Barty and Peter had not fought as much as their younger days; the lack of physical activities in their lives caused them to, as Claude quoted, 'losing their touches'.

Keep in mind that with age, Barty and Peter had come up with a bag of tricks under their sleeves, but against Claude, who was still younger than them, as well as had worked with them for a good several years at the same time, the former leader of CBPR made a good point that those tricks would not save them forever, considering the nearing battle against the Queen and her agents.

Thus, every night, per Claude's instructions, whenever Peter and Barty had finished their work as teachers, they would spend a good few hours to train - working their bodies back to shape as much as they could. Lo and behold, while the two did not show much change at first glance, their performances against the students were enough telling that their nightly workout had paid-off.

* * *

10 minutes had passed, with Ruby and Blake were already sweating bullets. True to his words, professor Port did not even move further than three steps away from his spot as he fought defensively; but _damn_ , forcing professor Port out of specified bounds was akin to move a boulder. Worse, the said boulder also retaliated.

Shooting him with bullets did not work well, as the chubby professor either deflected the bullets with his axe and tanked the shots from his blind spots. Ruby tried to tackle him with her speed Semblance, but it turned out to be a bad idea, as she could barely forced Peter two steps back. It was only thanks that Peter's fat belly that Ruby's collision did not hurt her much. However, the attack only gave Peter the opportunity to catch Ruby in his grasp.

"Eep!" Ruby yelped as Port swung her around by her hood, before he hurled her right at Blake who was approaching from the other side.

The girl in black managed to avoid the Ruby-projectile by skillfully sliding on the floor, allowing Ruby to harmlessly flew past above her face until she hit the wall behind her. Blake cringed in small guilt as she could tell that Ruby's eyes were swirling in daze from impact, but Blake had to focus on the current objective.

Once she was within range, Peter retaliated with a simple, low horizontal swing with his axe, which Blake quickly replaced herself with a clone that shot her jumping upwards over the teacher. She swung her Gambol Shroud at his head, which Peter easily parried with his own axe. Blake landed, set her weapon into dual wielding, and engaged the professor again in a heated exchange - she ran around, aiming for blind spots which Peter quickly covered, the girl could not even force the professor to budge.

Soon enough, Blake was forced to defend when Peter managed to catch her with another swing of his axe. The force behind the attack was enough to throw her off her feet, sending her flying a good distance away. When Blake managed to summer-sault in the air and land back on her feet, she found Ruby regrouping with her. Blake looked down at her arms which were trembling slightly from weathering Peter's attack, before she reaffirmed the grip on her weapon. Testament of their teamwork - they did not exchange any words as they simply nodded at each other, before they dashed at Peter together, preparing to launch simultaneous attacks.

In response, Peter merely smirked from behind his mustache as he aimed his blunderbuss end at the incoming pair, and fired a scattered pellets. As expected, the girls had to create distance between themselves in order to avoid and make their way through the bullets, but they did not stop their marches. Then, Peter raised his weapon high and stomped the pummel of his weapon on the floor.

BOOM!

Ruby and Blake suddenly found themselves thrown back to the floor, breathless for a second as they were dazed. _What the hell just hit us?_

They rose up, finding dust cloud was filling the entire room, and their eyes widened that the whole floor was ruined, with Peter remained standing in the middle of it all. "Excellent teamwork, you two! Your last attempt earlier had a good amount of coordination! Bravo!" He commented with his ever-jovial tone as he waved his hand at them invitingly. "Come, again!"

Staring at the destruction caused by professor Port's last attack, Ruby and Blake could not help but swallow a lump before they prepared themselves for another bout.

oXo

Weiss and Yang found themselves to be out of their depths; Doctor Bartholomew Oobleck was merciless despite his mild-mannered looks and attitude.

 _What can you break, but never pick up? What can you make, but never touch? What can you create, but never fix?_

Both girls could have sworn they had heard that riddle somewhere, and they felt the answer was at the tip of their tongues. However, the history teacher was not very keen to give them time to think.

Speak of the devil - Barty just suddenly appeared behind Yang and used his leg to swipe her feet off, causing the blonde to fall back. While Yang was in the middle of back-flipping to recover herself, the teacher managed to find an opportunity to aim his torch and fired several fireballs at Weiss, who had to cancel her attempt of ambush in favour of dodging the incoming projectiles, before the teacher immediately returned his attention to the recently recovered Yang, and landed a well-placed palm-strike at her abdomen, forcing her to skid back a distance.

"Hm, so far so good, you two! I can see that both of you have potentials to be great huntresses!" Barty transformed his Antiquity's Roast back to thermos form and drank the coffee that somehow (miraculously), was still stored inside.

Yang and Weiss would be lying if they said they were not frustrated, but they were too tired to show them; might as well using the moment to regain their bearings as much as they could, as Barty continued his lecture.

"However, finesse and brute strength alone won't help your career as huntresses in the long run! A good head on your shoulders can even solve many issues without casualties." The history teacher's words actually put the two girls into thinking.

What's with this test? Why did they have to solve the riddle while fighting? Dr. Oobleck's speech struck a chord within them, somewhat; Weiss and Yang glanced at each other, asking if either of them had any ideas. "...Do you think you can cover me a bit more?" Weiss asked carefully.

Thankfully, Yang snorted with a light smile on her face. "Yeah, sure. I think this is the high time for you to prove how smart you are, ice-queen."

Weiss gave a light snort as a small smirk graced her face. On the other hand, Barty noticed the air around his two charges had shifted slightly, cuing him to pick up his pace. Without a warning, the teacher re-deploy his Antiquity's Roast and fired another volley of fireballs towards the two, who braced themselves for another bout.

oXo

Pyrrha was just in time to put her shield up to block an incoming strike, but the force and momentum were hard enough to push the shield back until it hit her face, causing her to stumble back while weathering her throbbing nose.

On the other side of the stage, Ren was on his fours, shaking and rubbing his headache off. He considered his condition to be quite fortunate that he still retained some aura. When he, along with Pyrrha managed to steady themselves back on two feet, they regarded Sterling again, who was still standing casually with his sword at one hand while reading his book with the other; flipping another page.

Pyrrha and Ren would be lying if they said that they were not frustrated - at least inwardly, for not being able to land any single hit on the young teacher; their attempt to make him eating his own words for his display of arrogance had failed miserably. Scratch that - it was no longer mere arrogance when he had proven that he had enough skills to back it up - Sterling was on a whole new level; either he had been holding back in the past, or he had been constantly growing stronger as well. Neither of them knew which one was scarier.

Claude noticed that the attacks had stopped, as he looked up from his reading at his two charges, regarding their forms and stances for a few seconds, before returning to his reading.

From Ren and Pyrrha's point of view, they saw their 'examiner' became more engrossed in his reading, considering the pursed lips and the rising eyebrows as he was nodding at the page he was reading, as if the content was more concerning to him than the two opponents he was facing against.

Pyrrha glanced at Ren whose right eye was twitching ever so slightly. "...I think we need a new plan." The former whispered.

Thankfully, it only took a second for Ren to calm himself down with one breath. "I… I honestly don't know." He then glanced at the girl. "...Unless you have improved your Semblance since last time."

Pyrrha scowled slightly. "I did try training my Semblance every now and then, but I don't know if I have improved enough. Mr. Cole's Semblance had been developed to counter mine."

"But if your Semblance truly has improved… What do we lose at this point?"

Pyrrha licked her lower lips as she considered Ren's words, until she nodded. "...What do you have in mind?"

Ren gestured Pyrrha to lean closer, and he began to whisper his idea to her ear. The girl then regarded her teammate before replying, "...That's a long shot."

"Better than no shot at all, don't you think?"

Pyrrha then took a few deep breaths to re-gather herself, "Okay…. Alright, let's go with your plan. We can do this." She then brandished her weapon as she put up her stance again.

"I'm counting on you, Pyrrha." Ren said as he did the same. In mind, he could not help but wonder how his partner and team-leader were doing.

oXo

Meanwhile, Goodwitch could not help but feeling that she was having a time of her life. Around her was plethora of flying objects - furniture, tiles, debris, etc. that she could gather with her Telekinetic Semblance; and she was flicking one object after another like missiles towards her supposedly 'charges'.

She received an opportunity to unleash her pent-up frustration and stress from having to deal with her work which involved unruly/problematic students, quirky co-workers, mountains of paperwork courtesy of overly laidback, coffee-addict headmaster, and one Claude fucking Rose.

Although, the latter was actually the one who gave her the said opportunity, which kind of annoyed her that she had to be grateful, if only for a little.

She honestly felt a little bad for giving Jaune Arc, who was still considered green, this level of difficulty. Then again, Nora Valkyrie should be enough to cover for him. Well, Glynda had faith that the two could find a way to pass her test with passable marks. All she needed to do was to enjoy her - no, to give her all to fulfil her duty as an educator.

"WAAAAAGGH!"

The young Arc was crying like no tomorrow as he ran for his life while carrying an unconscious Nora on his shoulder, desperately avoiding Glynda's barrage one after another. At some point of the match, Nora had seemingly been hit on her head, knocking her out for the time being, forcing the leader of JNPR to carry all the weight by himself for the time being.

"Nora, Noraa! For the love of the Brothers, Nora! You've got to wake up!" Jaune frantically patted her cheek.

"Ugh…." Nora groaned, causing Jaune's face to slightly light up in hope of her waking up. "Ren…. Can I have more…?" She slurred as a goofy grin grew on her sleepy face.

"NORAAA!" Jaune shrieked as he barely managed to jump out from being crushed by a particularly large table, picked himself and Nora up, before he continued running and screaming.

Glynda could not help but gave a little smile; it has been a while since the last time she got to unwind while listening to music on her ears.

* * *

 **Omake**

The Kingdom was in ruins after suffering a massive attack of Grimm horde, and the survivors had to regroup, consolidating their strength and resources in order to launch a counter attack. At the outskirts of the capital, Summer Rose and team STRQ took the role as a beacon of hope by rallying a group of survivors - combatants and civilians alike. The girl in white hooded-cloak glanced at her team as she took a stand on a make-shift podium made out of rocks and earth, which her team - even Raven, returned with nods in a show of support.

Summer regarded the people gathering around her, who looked at her in the mix of expectation, support and mild skepticism; nonetheless, she resolved herself not to beat around the bush and immediately speak to the point. "People of Remnant! I know that times may be dark, but we are the only hope left for the planet. Look around you!" She waved her hand with a booming voice, catching everyone's full attention as she gestured at everyone around. "...The gathering of noble huntsmen and huntresses, new and old!"

oXo

At another part of kingdom's outskirts, Claude Rose and his team CBPR were also rallying another group of survivors around them, with the team-leader stepped on a pile of rubble; his teammates were giving him skeptical looks, which Claude returned with a mild glare that said 'I got this, okay?', before he turned his gaze at the crowd in front of him. He then cleared his throat to prepare himself.

"Alright, um, listen up." Claude began, garnering everyone to look and listen to him, causing Claude to regard each and everyone of them. "... I'll just be honest; you're all a bunch of dirty misfits, but you are all that's left, so you'll have to do."

People furrowed their eyebrows, some even sported offended looks at the first sentence coming out of Claude's mouth. The rest of CBPR were either rolling their eyes, sighing and scoffing at the choice of words.

oXo

"Our home was attacked…" Summer said as she pointed at the direction of the ruined kingdom in the distance. "I was there - we were all there, fighting against the endless onslaught."

As she spoke, her team could not help but grimace at the memory where they had to fight for their lives against Creatures of Grimm, one after another. Their thoughts were shared by everyone else.

oXo

"They kept coming, so I kept fighting. Not gonna lie, though, I was - no, _we_ were all magnificent." Claude ended up boasting as he gave a quick wink at his team, who gave him flat smiles and head-shakes in return.

The survivor group, on the other hand, sported several raised eyebrows at the claim.

oXo

"...Despite the sacrifices of many brave huntsmen and huntresses, we still lost the kingdom." Summer's tone grew somber for a second before she met everyone's gaze with her own. "The Beacon tower, the city, our very home."

oXo

"So, everything is gone…." Claude spoke in a matter-of-fact tone, although he did not like the memories of flames everywhere. "...Your stuff." He directed at the group before him, "Their stuff." Claude then gestured at his team by his side, "But most importantly…" he held up both of his fingers to emphasize, before he pointed at himself with his both thumbs. "...My stuff!"

oXo

"However!" Summer's voice boomed again across the field. She would never forget the face of the witch who was behind the disaster. "Today, we know the name of our true enemy! Her name is…!"

oXo

"SAMANTHA!"

Claude pointed out to make a point, but silence suddenly fell upon the field as he found himself doubting the name he just said. "...Or Sylvie? Sherry? Is- is it…?" He asked to nobody in particular, and he immediately decided just to wing it. "I don't know, something with an 'S'!"

oXo

"SALEM."

At Summer's tone and grim expression, everyone straightened up as they committed the name to their memory, as well as paying more attention for Summer's next words. "I know some of you guys might be looking for us in the time of peril, but this is no longer my battle alone." She spoke her next line with a hint of gentleness in her tone.

oXo

"-Which means, if I don't see you out there..." Claude pointed out at the direction towards the battlefield, before he partially unsheathed his Shatter Storm, showing a glimpse of the blade to everyone to show he meant business. "I'll kill you myself."

Everyone, including his team, looked incredulous and perhaps horrified at the warning/threat.

oXo

"It is time for us to put our differences aside, for we have a duty to take back what is rightfully ours, to protect the people as huntsmen and huntresses!" Summer said with more fire in her tone than before.

oXo

"Worst case scenario, you'll die." Claude spoke with a careful tone and quickly followed up before anyone could have protested. "...But who knows, maybe you won't!"

oXo

At this point, every single survivor in the gathering, as well as team STRQ had begun to roar and vocally show their support as Summer delivered the ending speech with a question. "So I ask you, WHO. WILL. STAND. WITH ME?!" She finished while raising her fist up, which was followed by everyone else as their cheer intensified.

oXo

"YEAH!"

Claude cheered with his own fist up, seemingly appeared to have asked the same final question to end his speech, but his cheering was met with a deathly silence as everyone was giving him dry and skeptical looks. "...Aw, really, guys?"

Then, Claude heard his team hissing to gain his attention, and when he turned to look at them, Barty and Peter were giving looks of pity, while Roman's look was kind of condescending if anything else.

Claude pouted for a second before he decided to come up with another idea. "Also!" he shouted, garnering everyone's attention to him again. "...THERE WILL BE A TON OF LOOT!"

Apparently, the final line seemed to do the trick as everyone immediately cheered at the prospect of free-for-all bounty.

As team CBPR re-joined Claude in mid-celebration, Peter commented, "I suppose you have done well, sir, all things considered…" his tone did not sound sincere somehow; while Barty was out of words, as the two began to give a round of applause to correspond with people's cheer to preserve morale.

"See?! I told you! You should've used my script from the beginning!" Roman hissed as he jabbed his elbow at Claude's side.

"Oh, shut up, Rome. Just smile and wave at the crowd." Claude half-growled, half-whispered as he returned to wave and roar with the rest of the crowd.

* * *

 **So, yeah. I've been having this idea for some time, and watching Ironwood and Robyn inspiring the people of Atlas and Mantle to unite against Salem prompted me to write this omake. So, what do you think? No flames, please. Ahsoei, over and out.**


	23. End of The First Term (IV)

**RWBY: The Redeemer**

* * *

 **Right, so here's the third update in 2020! Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Beta-read by Starlight's Poet**

 **Chapter 22: End of The First Term (IV)**

Nora Valkyrie was at her wit's end. Inwardly, she was berating herself for being knocked unconscious during a critical time, when her team-leader needed her the most. Here she was - exhausted, out of ammo, out of ideas, and Jaune was on his last leg behind her. In front of her was Glynda Goodwitch, with a plethora of objects in the hall flying around her, courtesy of her telekinetic Semblance.

The teacher then flicked her crop, sending a barrage of objects her way, which Nora managed to block with her Magnhild. Still, the sheer amount of projectiles was able to force her to steadily take steps back. Eventually, the last pieces of the barrage managed to overwhelm her; hitting her face and knocking her back, causing her to almost fall if not for Jaune catching her with his shield.

"I must admit…" Glynda spoke as she kept her ammunition flying around her. "Both of your performances have exceeded my expectations, especially you, Mr. Arc." Her eyes trailing to the blonde boy approvingly. "...You truly have come a long way."

Through the sweat and fatigue, Jaune managed to give a small smile, even Nora grinned wryly. Unfortunately, Glynda's soft expression morphed into her usual merciless-self. "Back to the topic, even with your admirable performances and improvements, I have no reason not to give my all, take it as a sign of respect." She raised her riding-crop up high as her flying ammunition gained speed.

Jaune and Nora could only whimper as they stared in horror at the barrage of projectiles coming at them.

oXo

"Come on, come on….!" Weiss furiously racked her brain as she watched her current partner for her assignment was barely holding herself up in a close-quarter combat against Doctor Oobleck. Things were not looking good - Yang was doing her best to give her 110% to keep Oobleck busy so Weiss could process the riddle comfortably, but Doctor was steadily pushing the blonde brawler back. She could no longer provide ranged support herself because she had run out of Dust.

"What can you break, but never pick up? What can you make, but never touch? What can you create, but never fix?! Come on, Weiss Schnee! You've heard this kind of riddle during your study in Atlas! You're smarter than this!" Weiss berated herself, so deep in her thoughts that she almost gasped in shock when she suddenly saw Yang barreling through the air towards her, forcing her to duck to avoid the impact. The blonde's body flew all the way until she crashed into the wall.

When Weiss returned her attention forward, this time she gasped at the sight of Oobleck's circular glasses right in front of her. The young heiress and the archeologist exchanged a couple of blows with their weapons and Weiss managed to create some distance between them. Weiss' heart was beating against her ribcage; the girl was pensive while Oobleck had a composed smile as he put on a relaxed stance with his torch pointed at her.

Weiss glanced behind her, and noticed that Yang was on her fours after hitting the wall. Making sure that Weiss could give her partner some time to catch her breath, she decided to rush forward and engage her teacher. Sparks flew around as the blade of her rapier scratched fiercely against Oobleck's steel; but alas, Weiss was still inexperienced compared to a full-fledged huntsman, as the doctor managed to push her back and deliver a swing that wreathed in flames from the fire on his torch, forcing Weiss to leap back.

Weiss spun in the air to regain her balance. Refusing to give up just yet, Weiss then conjured a Glyph behind her, which launched her toward Oobleck, bringing her blade across the floor before she shot forward to deliver a swift stab, which the doctor easily dodged and re-directed upwards with a considerable force. The heiress' face turned into a panic as she realised that her defence was open, yet she managed to evade Oobleck's overhead strike by a hair's breadth before she proceeded to move backwards, blocking and parrying against Oobleck continuous onslaught.

She managed to retaliate at some point - but Oobleck was still able to outclass her in the end by spinning around to gain momentum, before delivering another blow to her. Weiss caught the swing on the last second, and while struggling to stand her ground, Weiss growled as she conjured another Glyph beneath her feet that gave her a boost to throw Oobleck's attack off its course, and jumped back.

Once another distance had been created, Yang finally had a chance to get back on her feet to re-join Weiss, who was out of breath and could no longer stand. Supporting her exhausted teammate by her shoulder, Yang regarded the doctor with a wary look.

"Good, but still not good enough!" Doctor Oobleck commented. "Time is ticking, ladies. Have you found the answer to this test yet?"

Yang could not help but growl in frustration, as her lilac eyes morphed into a pair of red orbs. Then again, she still knew better than leaving the exhausted Weiss behind; her brain was their best shot for a passing grade. However, before either Yang or Barty could have said anything else, Weiss suddenly raised her hand up, garnering looks from the other occupants in the room.

"...Yes, Ms. Schnee?" Oobleck asked, expecting something from the heiress.

On the other hand, Weiss took several calming breaths as she kept her head bobbed down. The world around her seemed to slow down as her pale blue eyes staring at the floor, while her frame was still being held by Yang. She had no idea how she achieved it, but the rush from the battle with Doctor Oobleck caused her blood to rapidly run through her entire system - the brain in her head, included.

Truth to be told, during her melee with Doctor Oobleck, she had been forcing herself to perform multiple tasks; solving the riddle while reacting and defending against the doctor's attacks at the same time. It was a complete miracle that Weiss was still conscious at this point. She was quite certain that even if she were to go all out, Doctor Bartholomew Oobleck would have still beaten both her and Yang's rears six days to Sunday. Back to topic at hand - during the fight, her mind considered several possibilities about something that was intangible, yet can be made and broken.

Seriously - why did she have to go through such nonsense? Had this kind of trial become standards in academies nowadays? She was supposed to lead an ideal student life striving to be a great huntress, so she could reclaim the honour of the Schnee family name. Nevertheless, now that things had been said and done, Weiss' only option was to see it through the end; she had made that oath to herself, after all…

Wait…

Weiss narrowed her eyes as she mulled over her previous thoughts, then it came back to Oobleck's riddle - Intangible, cannot be touched, fixed, yet can be made and broken…

"Ms. Schnee…?" After what it felt like a while, Barty's voice broke through her musing as the doctor was still standing patiently at the students with unreadable expression on his face. "Do you have anything to say in the end?"

Taking another breath, Weiss' met Oobleck's bespectacled eyes with her own blue orbs. "...Yes, doctor. I believe I do."

oXo

Ruby and Blake were focusing on catching their breaths, their eyes were honing at the chubby figure of Peter Port. Scratch that - after everything they had seen of what the man was capable of doing, Ruby and Blake could not bring themselves to make fun of Port's belly again; because the exaggerations Port told during his classes were probably true. Ruby herself understood how Sterling became so strong under Peter's apprenticeship.

"Ruby…?" the young team-leader blinked and glanced at Blake, who had seemingly managed to level her breathing again. "...Are you good now?"

"...Yeah." Ruby nodded with another deep breath. "Yeah, I'm good. Only have one more clip, though. What about you?" She asked as she re-checked the magazine inside her Crescent Rose.

"Same, but I originally planned to keep this when we go for an actual mission…" Blake revealed a pistol clip with various Dust rounds. "...And I only got this after negotiating with Weiss for an hour." She said with a reluctant tone.

"I'll help you negotiate with her again later. Let's just focus on the test, okay?" Ruby implored, prompting a small nod from her current partner. "Okay, pretty much like we agreed on earlier. Don't let up!"

Ruby led the charge as she blurred into another mass of swirling petals with Blake following behind her. Peter smirked under his mustache as he prepared to take them on; as he expected Ruby would know better than to charge head-on, Peter easily predicted that Ruby would definitely change her course at her last second to blind-side him; it was either from his right, left or behind.

However, while Peter was spot-on about Ruby not charging head-on, he could not help but to quirked an eyebrow when he found Ruby was only swirling around, obscuring his vision with her petals…

Peter immediately caught on and swung his axe towards Blake who came from behind him. However, much to his surprise, as soon as his axe landed, Blake's visage suddenly transformed into a stone sculpture, trapping Peter's axe within. Before Peter could have forcefully wrenched his weapon free, Blake suddenly spun and slammed a kick on the back of his head - the shock in his head causing him to stagger slightly.

Then, before Peter could have regained his bearing, he suddenly found Ruby Rose spinning vertically with her scythe coming to his wrist - the hand that was still holding his Blowhard. The nerve-point where the blade struck caused Peter to cringe as he was forced to relinquish his hold. It was thanks to the aura protection that he did not lose his hand.

Now that he was without his weapon, Peter swung his hand in attempt to push Blake away, only to find another clone had replaced her - this time, the clone burst an electrical charge that blew up in his face.. The shock caused Peter to stumble a few steps back.

Ruby and Blake's eyes widened at the opportunity; Blake's clone made of lightning dust round should have enough power to stun even an Alpha Beowulf. They only needed to push him a couple steps more and they would pass this test. Not that they knew, however - for Peter, the Lightning Dust that was thrown at him was nothing compared to Claude's electric shock back in the day.

When Ruby and Blake charged again together, the last thing they saw was Peter's eyes gleaming at them before everything went blurry.

* * *

Sometime later after the practical exam had commenced, Ozpin sent an announcement that the students who had finished their assessment were to report to the school's infirmary where they could watch the rest of the proceedings with a television provided in the room. Blake and Ruby were making their way towards the infirmary, shoulder-to-shoulder, as their bodies were covered in grime, soot, and some mild bruises on their exposed skin.

They entered the room to find Professor Peach sitting on her desk, and some of their classmates watching on the large television screen on the wall. Those classmates had definitely seen better days - Yang and Weiss were sitting on their beds looking absolutely floored and haggard, although they did not seem to be injured. Jaune and Nora, on the other hand, were laid on the beds with few patches of bandage on their person; Nora in particular was sleeping.

"Welcome, you two. I take you have finished your assessment. Come here so I can have a look at you." Thumbelina Peach invited with a warm tone, her hands just finished writing some paperwork.

Blake and Ruby blinked before the former asked, "Professor Peach? I didn't know you're a doctor."

"Not officially." Peach replied with an understanding smile. "I'm not an active huntress anymore, but I have several other qualifications as well. Also, the actual person in charge of infirmary is having an assignment at Vacuo, so I need to fill the position."

The two girls accepted the explanation and entered the room. They glanced at their friends; Yang lazily waved at them. "'Sup."

Weiss only returned their glances before returning her attention to the television, while Jaune only gave a tired grin and waved back.

"Hi…" Ruby returned the greeting tiredly. "...How's the test?"

Jaune sighed into his hands while Weiss grumbled, causing Yang to smile wryly. "We, err…. Rather not to talk about it. You?"

Ruby and Blake sighed as they took a seat in front of Peach; the teacher pulled a white curtain over as she began to check them over.. "...Not great. By the way, who were you up against?"

"Oobleck. I mean, Doctor Oobleck."

"Goodwitch. What about you?" Jaune asked.

Ruby and Blake glanced at one another. "...Professor Port." The latter replied.

Yang blinked at the answer. "For real, Port did those….?" Yang gestured at their appearances, but she soon shrugged. "You know what, I'm not surprised anymore at this point."

"I know right? Who would've thought he's actually the same guy from his stories." Ruby replied with the small joke as she was following Peach's instructions to lift up her shirt so she could examine the rest of her body. "We… ended up failing. What about you?"

Yang glanced at Weiss. "Well, we actually passed."

"You did?!" Ruby and Blake actually went wide-eyed.

"Barely passed is the more correct word." Weiss said with a sigh. "We passed after Doctor Oobleck did a number on us."

"Well, if anything, you girls had it better than us two." Jaune commented while glancing at Nora. "Ruby and Blake at least got to fight, while I don't remember getting into any fight at all. All I remember is Goodwitch wiping our faces with the entire floor."

The rest of the girls cringed at Jaune's remark - they were all reminded again of how terrifying Glynda Goodwitch was. When Ruby had finished receiving treatment and switch seats with Blake, she realised something, "Um, where's Pyrrha and Ren…? Wait, if we're all here, then…"

"Yeah, we're watching them right now." Yang pointed at the TV on the wall displaying Pyrrha and Ren's practical exams.

Ruby did not waste any time to make her way stumbling to Yang's bed. "How's it? What did I miss!?"

Weiss shrugged, "Quite a lot, and… I believe all of us can agree that things are not looking good over there."

oXo

The hall was filled with sparks and sounds of steel clashing, as Pyrrha and Ren were ganging up on Sterling, whom was easily intercepting every single of their strike with one hand holding a sword, while reading with the other. Both combatants had exhausted their ammunition, thus melee was their only option as they did their best to coordinate their attacks and footwork. Nonetheless, their current opponent remained undaunted.

On the other hand, Claude could not help but feel that something was off. The two students before him clearly had discussed some sort of plan before engaging him, but their tactics so far remained the same from the beginning of the match - one engaging him in a melee with the other providing ranged support, with Pyrrha occasionally using her polarity on whatever with magnetic property in the room. Pyrrha and Ren might not be the tactician like Jaune, but they were certainly not fools. Why bothered repeating a method that had already proven not working against him? Desperation? Unlikely.

Then again, even though the current plan was already a failure, at the same time, it was still not the worst one they could come up with. Keeping their pressure on him was the only viable option, and the two students did not disappoint in following the latter. Pyrrha's combination between her Milo and Akouo still remained the most dangerous factor that Claude had to keep his eyes on.

Claude then barely dodged a double swing of Ren's Stormflower; he then realised that he had spent a bit too much time, as the two had slowly, but surely gotten accustomed to his movement. Time to pick up his pace - he closed the book he was reading (hopefully he still remembered where he left off later) and put it away momentarily on the pouch on his belt, in favour of focusing more on the fight, but Claude noticed the glint appeared on the students' eyes - they caught on something… But what?

After a brief nod at each other, both Pyrrha and Ren suddenly shifted their footworks as they began circling Claude, whom narrowed his eyes - why didn't they use this formation from the start?

Pyrrha was on him first, and Claude reflexively threw a strong swing at the same time Pyrrha raised up her shield. The girl could not help but grimace as the force behind the impact was so strong that she could not really follow with her counter attack in favour of standing her ground. However, she needed to keep up for a bit longer…

Claude, however, immediately noticed something was wrong. It had only gone for not even half a minute, but he realised that he could not feel Ren behind him. Moreover, he then felt something touched his belt and only realised that someone had snuck up on him. He pivoted and spun around, delivering a 360 degrees horizontal slash that forcefully pushed both Pyrrha and Ren away.

Claude blinked when he only noticed Ren, who had regrouped with Pyrrha - or to be precise, an item on his hand.

It was his copy of Ninjas of Love; somehow, while Claude was busy engaging Pyrrha, in that short time, Lie Ren had managed to snuck up behind him and steal his book until it was too late for him to notice. Even with Pyrrha distracting him, how did Ren conceal his presence, his intent, so well? A work of a Semblance? That was the only likely answer.

Nonetheless, Claude's eyes widened when Ren unexpectedly tore the pages on his book. "Well, I don't think you can finish your reading of the day now." Pyrrha cheekily remarked.

Then it hit him; Claude did state that the two would fail if they could not land a hit by the time he finished chapter 5, but he could no longer finish that chapter, could he? In a manner of speaking, Pyrrha and Ren were already half-way in passing the test. All they needed to do was to focus on landing a hit on him.

Pyrrha and Ren were worried when they saw Sterling went still for a second - his face was overshadowed by his bangs, until his body began shaking. Did they blunder? Perhaps it was very rude to simply tear his book up like that. While the book's content seemed… questionable, they did just commit damage and destruction on someone else's property.

However, the two became confused when Sterling let out a laugh; the laughter lasted for some time until the young teacher regarded them with a small grin. "Good gods, you two… I gotta ask, whose idea is this? And how did you come up with that one?"

Pyrrha and Ren glanced at each other before the latter raised his hand up. "It was my idea. Although, I simply thought, 'what would Jaune do?'"

"So your idea is based on Jaune-boy's line of thinking?" Claude's face was wearing an incredulous amusement.

"Sounds far-fetched, I know, but Jaune is our leader and tactician, after all." Pyrrha added.

Claude chuckled some more as he rubbed his forehead. "Huh… Okay, let's go with that." He then fished out his scroll and looked at the screen for a second before he pocketed it again. "Alright, I just received a word that you the rest of your peers have finished with their assessment. So…"

Pyrrha and Ren looked hopeful at that, but Claude immediately burst their bubbles by putting up another stance. "Let's make good use of our remaining time here, okay? You can also take this as a chance to get extra marks." He said with a Cheshire smile.

Ren honestly did not look forward to this; he was exhausted, but when he looked at Pyrrha, the girl had a look that was not dissimilar to Nora when something caught her interest. With a sigh, Ren then prepared himself for another bout. At least he did not have to worry anymore about passing the practical exam.

However, Claude dropped his stance. "Wait, before we begin; you two had been taught how to regulate your aura by full-focus breathing, right?"

Pyrrha and Ren paused at the question before they glanced at each other again, when Claude silently tilted his head with raised eyebrows, they took it as a cue to practice what he asked. They then relaxed their stances and took several deep, controlled breaths.

It was a breathing technique that everyone had to learn when they first unlocked their aura. Keeping their aura up was a simple enough task that can be performed by subconscious thought in a matter of days, but what about regulating them in an efficient and effective manner?

Not unlike the breathing exercise in calisthenics - though the technique's purpose was not only to help one to maintain their stamina, but to enhance their aura's natural recovery process through modified breathing. The recovery rate varies from person to person, but Claude could tell that Pyrrha and Ren had at least grasped the basics as he could see their aura reading was steadily, albeit slowly, recovering on the screen of his Scroll. Soon, he could see their aura flashes enveloping their frames.

Seeing that they had recovered enough, Claude nodded approvingly before returning his stance back. Pyrrha and Ren did not need any question whether they were ready or not, as they put their stances back and Claude charged at them a few seconds later.

* * *

Blake could not help but feel horrified when she watched Ren tore off a copy of Ninjas of Love to shreds, considering she was a big fan of the series. However, her horror was soon replaced by another curiosity as she continued watching Claude fighting Pyrrha Nikos and Lie Ren.

"Err…. Why are they fighting again?" Ruby asked. Everyone else was just as confused as her. "Professor Peach, should we be worried?"

Thumbelina Peach only glanced at Ruby as she did not stop at writing her paperwork, though she gave a small knowing smile. "I can only tell you to keep watching, my dear. I'm sure there's definitely one thing or two that you can learn from there."

Everyone could only follow the advice for the time being and continue watching the second round of the match. Time ticked by, and they noticed that Sterling was noticeably slacking up, allowing several good hits on his person. Out of curiosity, Ruby fished out her scroll as she connected her device to the wireless aura-scanner implanted in the combat hall. She noticed Sterling was almost down by half, but she noticed something else.

His aura was slowly, but surely recovering; Ruby watched between her Scroll and the match unfolding on the screen. Was it the breathing exercise? She did know the breathing as she always used it from time to time after a match, but she knew well that the technique was far from simple as described. The timing, precision and where you directed the air while inhaling and exhaling made the technique hard to pull if you are not focused or relaxed, thus nobody in general ever recovered their aura in the midst of the battle. To see Sterling recovering his aura little by little while fighting like that? How?

Everyone also noticed that Sterling was purposely letting himself be hit before he picked up his pace again. "...What is he doing?" Weiss muttered.

"Um, guys…?" Ruby called out and showed her Scroll, prompting everyone to check on their own. All eyes widened when they saw the same thing as Ruby did, alternating between looking at Claude's performance and his steadily recovering aura levels.

Jaune on the other hand, appeared to be lost. "Um, everyone? What's actually going on?"

Everyone turned to stare at Jaune as if he had asked something bizarre, but they remembered that Jaune was still new to aura control. Weiss decided to take the role of answering. "Jaune, when Mr. Cole took you as an apprentice, did he teach you about full focus breathing exercise?"

"I… was instructed to practice some kind of breathing, but I thought it was something people usually do in calisthenics." Jaune replied.

Weiss sighed softly. "...Not fundamentally wrong, but it was more advanced than just calisthenics breathing. While aura can naturally recover in time, this breathing technique can help your aura to recover faster; by maximizing the amount of oxygen you can inhale into your system, not only it can help you to regulate your aura reserve and stamina, the body can increase aura's natural recovery process."

"So… Sterling is recovering his aura as he fights? Okay, that's cool." Jaune nodded dumbly.

"It's not as simple as it sounds, Jaune." Ruby interjected. "The correct way to breath is hard to pull off in the first place. From what Yang and I learned back in Signal, only the best of the best huntsmen and huntresses who can breath like that while fighting at the same time. Heck, it became even a norm where you are not a pro-huntsman yet if you still cannot master the full focus breathing on the get-go."

On the side, Peach was inwardly giggling to herself. Considering her years of experience dealing with one Claude Rose, she was confident that she could predict his line of thinking. Looking at the match on the television and the conversation about the said match, if Peach's intuition was to be believed, then Claude had set quite a high bar for the first-year students.

As she watched the students became enraptured at the match for some time later, she decided to speak up, "Young Ms. Rose is not wrong, children.`` Everyone then turned to listen to Professor Peach's input. "It's true that you'll be expected to be able to use full focus breathing at any moment's notice when you get your license, but…. Sterling won't let you off that easily."

Everyone wanted to ask Professor Peach if she had an inkling of what Sterling had in store for them, but seeing the old teacher returning her focus on her paperwork, they chose to return their attention back on the screen.

oXo

It took another good 15 minutes until the match ended. Everyone was still resting in the infirmary by the time the television screen died out and after a few minutes later, Sterling came in while carrying both Ren and Pyrrha on his shoulders. "Whew… 'Sup kids?" Claude cheerfully greeted the students who were gawking at him, before he nodded at the doctor in the room. "Professor Peach, here's the last batch." He said as he deposited the unconscious students on the empty beds.

"So, how did your exams go?" Claude asked the whole room.

Apparently, it was Yang who spoke first. "...I don't know if anyone has ever told you this before, but you… are evil." The silence of the others in the room signified their agreement.

In return, Claude's simply smiled. "That's actually one of the kinder words people have told me before, thank you." Then he shook his head, "...But seriously, how did your exams go?" When everyone glanced at each other without saying a word, Claude could somewhat read their expressions. "No words? So that's how it is." He nodded in understanding. "Well, if it's worth anything, you all have done well. I can tell, especially those two." he pointed at Pyrrha and Ren, who were sleeping with uncomfortable expressions.

Ruby found themselves smiling a bit at the praise, although Claude's patronizing did not do enough to lift up everyone's spirits. The young huntsman sighed as he looked at Peach, silently asking for help. Much to his chagrin, however, the old huntress merely shrugged with a knowing smile before she turned to sip her cup of coffee. After pouting for a second, Claude sighed as he rubbed the back of his head, before coming up with another idea. "Okay, I know this might sound like something you guys don't want to hear yet, but I can arrange another chance for you. You can call it a supplementary assessment; whether you pass or not won't matter, as long as you participate, you can get a passing grade for your practical."

Everyone's face actually lit up from the news, as Claude continued. "The supplementary will take place after you take your paper tests, and speaking of which, I'll talk to the headmaster and Professor Goodwitch to give you kids an extra week to rest up and study more for your test. How does that sound?"

Smiles began to appear as they nodded at one another. Claude then glanced at Peach, who was nodding approvingly. "Okay, I'll leave you kids now. Be sure to inform Ren and Pyrrha about what I told you. I think those two will need it." Everyone glanced at their sleeping friends - Ren in particular, was groaning in his sleep.

* * *

"Time's up! All pens down, and if I see anyone still scribbling, that's a failing grade for you!" Oobleck's rapid speech echoed across the silent hall which was followed by several sighs and heads slamming on the table. The historian then moved around with an impressive speed, collecting the papers from limp bodies across the desk. "That's all for this term, students! Please remember to read Mistral's Impact on Global Agriculture before the following semester. I expect to see a 3000-words report on the subject to be submitted on the first week of the lessons. Have a good vacation!"

Groans then erupted from the half-dead first-year students. Ruby's head was on her hands as she laid on the table. Yang was also looking worse to wear after the gruelling test. Blake was looking calm as usual, but they knew that she was just as exhausted. Weiss could be considered doing the most well, but she did end up having to tutor her whole team. Thankfully, team JNPR - or to be precise, Pyrrha and Ren had come to her aid as the two first-year teams held up a study party, thus allowing all of them to do well enough to pass all the subjects.

"It's finally over…" Ruby sighed as her head remained on the table.

"No, it's not." Blake reminded her teammate. "We still got our supplementary assessment, remember?"

Ruby blinked and she whimpered. "Ah… You're right. Ugh, what did we do to deserve this?"

"C'mon, Ruby. You're not the only one." Jaune groaned from his spot behind her. "At this point, I just want to get it done and over with."

"I'm sure It will be fine, Jaune." Pyrrha consoled. "In fact, Ren and I are planning to attend this supplementary as well."

"You do?" Not only Jaune, but everyone else was looking at Pyrrha and Ren, who nodded in agreement.

"...But you passed your practical test, didn't you?" Weiss asked.

"Technically, we did. But…" Pyrrha then sported a thoughtful look. "I think this is more than just an assessment."

Weiss caught on Pyrrha's tone. "How come?"

"We heard from Nora and Jaune how Sterling kept recovering his aura and fighting me and Ren simultaneously; and the fact that Sterling purposely let us land hits on him had me thinking, maybe, just… maybe, Sterling is giving us a chance to learn something new, not just giving us a passing mark. Besides, I'm personally not satisfied with how I performed back then, so I wish to test myself further in this supplementary assessment. Looking back at how Sterling phrased it, suffice to say that every one of us is allowed to join, no?"

Everyone took in Pyrrha's words into heart. A minute later, Yang then slammed her fist into her open palm. "Welp, if P-Money said something like that, then I guess I have to come along as well."

Pyrrha blinked at Yang, "...Are you sure about this? I mean, you can, but I don't want to force anyone to attend."

Yang only chuckled while waving her hand. "Relax, Pyrrha. Your words got me thinking as well. I barely passed Oobleck's test, and like you said, I'm personally not happy with how I did either. If Sterling wants to challenge us into this so-called supplementary assessment, who am I to say no? It doesn't matter since I've already passed, right?"

Everyone found themselves agreeing with Yang's opinion. Then, all eyes turned to Weiss, who blinked at the attention before sighing. "...Alright, I guess I can make time. It's not like there's any harm in joining if Pyrrha's words were to be true."

Ruby then shot up from her seat and glomped on Weiss. "Yay, team RWBY all the way!"

"Get off me, you dolt!" Weiss shrieked and garnered several small laughs from her classmates.

oXo

Bartholomew Oobleck was currently walking in the hallway with Claude, who he ran into not long after he left the classroom. "Seriously, 3000 words? Have you no heart, Barty?"

"Please, we did just as much, if not more, during our days in Beacon as well." Oobleck scoffed.

"No, Barty. You did. Not even Peter could write a 3000-word essay. In fact, the rest of us just copied your work once you went to bed." Claude retorted.

"...Wut?" Barty paused on his steps for a second to regard his leader, who paused to look back at him.

"Hm?" Claude acted as if he said nothing off-putting. Then, after giving quick looks around them, Claude spoke in whispers. "Anyway, did you hear anything from Rome?"

Oobleck sighed and chose to ignore the earlier remarks. "He did give us updates, but nothing useful, I'm afraid. Considering what had happened during his last heist at the docks, not to mention his technical arrest, it is safe to assume that he will have difficulties to regain the trust of the ones behind the Dust robberies. We can only hope that Roman still retains that silver-tongue of his." He replied with a low-tone as well.

"But it's only been a few weeks. The fact that Rome hasn't been given the boot, is already better than we expected. Just keep the tabs on him."

"It shall be done." Barty fixed the glasses on his nose. Then, he spoke in his normal tone again. "By the way, did you actually finish preparing the first-year's supplementary assessment?"

"Believe it or not, yes." Claude sighed as he relaxed his pose. "...But not alone, obviously. I needed to call in favors from Harold to provide me with the props and I had to ask Peter during his free time to help me set those props up. Hell, I had to beg Glynda and Ozpin to help with the heavy-lifting, as well as to take care of the security measures."

"Truly?" Barty blinked behind his glasses as he and Claude finally arrived in the teacher's lounge. "...Because if I'm to be honest, Claude… Your idea of supplementary assessment is far worse than your idea of my historical essay. I'm surprised that Glynda and Ozpin agreed to this."

"I know right? Ozpin agreeing is one thing, but Glynda? Then again, I'm not gonna complain." Claude shrugged in the end as he took a seat on the table.

Barty eyed his old friend for a second before he turned to brew some coffee. "You know, it might be just my imagination, but Glynda seems to be in a better mood lately."

Claude snorted. "Yeah, she probably managed to get herself off after torturing Jaune and Nora. Poor bastards, those two just had to be dealt with a bad hand."

Oobleck hummed as he served two mugs of coffee on the table. "Is that what you think? I believe your assistance in teaching in her combat class also contributes to her current mood."

"Please, she is the teacher here. All I did to those kids was beating them down silly and hoping that they would adapt and grow later. Glynda knows better how to nurture them." Claude snorted again before he took a sip of his old friend's brew.

Bart wanted to deny those claims, but he simply laughed before sipping his own brew as well. That's so classic Claude - never want to acknowledge that he had helped a lot more than he thought he did.

* * *

The time and venue for the supplementary assessment had been broadcasted to the first-year students via their scrolls. Currently all members of team RWBY and JNPR were heading towards the Academy's bullhead port. However, all of them could not help but wonder about several instructions given to them, not to mention the specified time. Ruby noted that it was quite late in the afternoon as the sky had begun to darken, and the fact they were asked to come to the port meant that they were most likely going outside the Academy grounds. Just what kind of assessment were they going to face?

Her worry was alleviated for a moment when she saw Sterling was waiting for all of them with a Bullhead prepared. "Sterling!" She waved happily as she ran towards the young teacher.

Claude in return, returned the greeting with a two-finger salute. "What's up, kids? How did your paper tests go?"

"Hard, but not much compared to our practical." Ruby grinned sheepishly.

"That's good." Claude smiled as he found himself patting Ruby's head, causing the girl to blush shyly.

Claude then blinked a few seconds later and realised that the rest of the students were watching with looks of amusement and curiosity. He then pulled his hand away from Ruby's head and cleared his throat. "Right, it's good to see you kids doing well. Who's ready for the supplementary assessment?"

Everyone, especially Yang and Weiss from team RWBY, gave their young instructor strange looks for a second before they smiled and nodded in anticipation.

"Good. So we'll be riding this Bullhead towards our venue, but before we go…" Claude then turned to Ruby, who noticeably wore her cloak closer around her frame. "Ruby, you did follow the instructions on your Scroll, right?"

That was one particular matter that worried Ruby the most; aside from the odd time and venue for the assessment, everyone had been instructed not to bring any weaponries whatsoever, just their combat outfit. "Err…." Ruby's eyes darted left and right. "Yes, yeah! Of course, I did! Why wouldn't I? I'm a good student!"

"Uh-huh. So why are you keeping your cloak so tight? Are you cold? I mean, evening air can be chilly sometimes, but I don't think it's that cold at the moment." Claude remarked as he glanced at the rest of the students - who did not seem to be cold despite their clothing, like Pyrrha, Yang and Blake, for example.

"Um, err…! Yeah, it's pretty cold out here, that's why I always have my cloak around! So I won't get cold, definitely not hiding anything!" Ruby began to sweat.

Claude narrowed his eyes slightly at the sight of his nervous niece - that's a lot of sweat, alright. However, despite his skepticism, his protective side could not dismiss the possibility if Ruby actually caught a cold. He then leaned in closer so his eyes were level on Ruby's and he gently placed his hands on the girl's sides of her head - his thumbs in particular, were placed on her temples. "Are you sure you're okay? I guess your face is kind of warm…"

Ruby almost gasped in panic at the proximity, as her face became as red as her hood. However, it did not take long until Weiss had enough - she sighed as she snatched something from beneath Ruby's cloak. "Eep!"

"Sorry, but this is starting to get ridiculous." Weiss said as she held Ruby's weapon in her hands.

Ruby shot her partner a betrayed glare before she turned to meet Claude's flat look. "Hehehe… Oops?"

"I'll keep this with me until you finish your assessment." Claude spoke with a tone of finality, putting the Crescent Rose in his coat, ignoring Ruby's sad whimper. "Any question before we leave?" He asked the rest of the students.

Weiss raised her hand up. "Yes, sir. While I don't condone my partner's behaviour, I also understand her concern; are you sure it's wise for us not to bring any weapons, assuming that we will go outside the academy's grounds?" Everyone also seemed to agree Weiss' opinion as well.

Claude merely smiled at the heiress. "You won't be fighting anything, I'll see to it personally."

Weiss (as well as everyone else) stared at Claude's expression, her skeptical side remained strong, but she could not help but to have faith in the teacher's confident tone. Then again, it's not as if he had ever led them astray before; and considering the nature of supplementary assessment itself, perhaps things would be fine, after all.

oXo

With Weiss nodding without another word, Claude then ushered everyone else to come aboard, with Ruby remained dejected as she kept her teary eyes at Claude's coat - or to be precise, where her baby was being held. The Bullhead and flew towards Emerald Forest, bringing them a good few miles from the Beacon Academy, traversing through the night sky until they arrived at a familiar site.

"Okay, so this place takes me back." Yang spoke as she and everyone else disembarked into the old ruins from the initiation. "So what are we gonna do here? Scrap unarmed?" She grinned playfully at the young teacher.

"Tempting, but no." Claude replied with a small laugh. "The assessment is simple enough. I take you guys to know where the direction back to Beacon is?" Everyone nodded easily enough. Even from their position in the Emerald Forest, it was not too difficult to discern the sight of the Beacon tower in the distance. "Good, then you kids just have to make it back on your own." Claude said as he began to walk back to the Bullhead.

Everyone blinked at Claude; once, twice, until Nora voiced out everyone's thoughts, "...What?"

"Yeah, you heard me." Claude said as he stood inside the hangar and signaled the pilot, and the Bullhead began to hover. "Just head back towards the cliff, and I'm gonna pick you guys up. There is no time limit, but your time will be recorded as references for the next semester."

"Wait, hold up a second!" it was Weiss who shouted in protest. "Is this our supplementary assessment? Why the heck did you tell us not to bring our weapons!? What about the grimm?!"

Claude sighed softly, "I told you that you won't fight anything, didn't I? Professor Mulberry and Port had been kind enough to help me preparing your testing grounds, so you won't have any grimm coming for the next few hours. Unless if you stuck up here and keep complaining, your negativity might attract another party from outside the parameter, so I suggest you all stop wasting time!" The Bullhead carrying him then flew away as Claude shouted one more time, "Chop-chop, kids! Time is ticking!"

As team RWBY and JNPR watched their ride flying further and further away, Yang spoke up, "Okay, anyone else beside me thinking something is wrong with this guy? Because this is way worse than our practical test."

"I'm with ya." Jaune grumbled. "Though I can't believe I say this - this doesn't feel as bad as facing Professor Goodwitch."

"...And strangely enough, I kind of understand." Blake replied. "If what Sterling said is true, then I will take this one rather than Professor Port."

"Um, everyone? Shouldn't we get moving? Mr. Cole did say that there will be no grimm for a while, but the longer we stay here, the higher the chance we can run into danger." Pyrrha implored her classmates.

"Pyrrha is right, everyone!" Ruby said eagerly. "Let's nail this test! On me!" She then ran towards the trees.

Yang giggled while shaking her head in amusement at her little sister as she ran as well, followed by everyone else. However, not even a minute after entering the forest, Ruby immediately used her Semblance to blitz her way ahead of everyone else.

"Ruby, wait! Don't just run ahead on your own!" Yang shouted from behind her. Not everyone had speed Semblance, after all.

"Oh, sorry!" Ruby actually managed to hear her older sister and immediately slowed down. However, when her feet touched the forest ground, she felt something snapped beneath her boots.

"Eep!" Suddenly, much to everyone's surprise, a net sprung up and esnarred Ruby to the air.

"RUBY!" Yang quickly ran towards her sister who was helplessly bouncing inside the net. "Are you okay there?"

However, when Yang was only a few meters away from the spot where Ruby triggered the snare trap, the ground she stepped on suddenly caved in, catching her off guard as she began falling into a pit-trap. The blonde gasped as Blake managed to catch her by the scruff of her top, and Yang was staring wide-eyed at the wooden spike at the bottom of the pit. "Holy shit…!"

"What the hell…?" Jaune looked around incredulously at the traps as he and everyone else caught up. Weiss, Ren, Nora and Pyrrha proceeded to help Ruby down while Jaune inspected the pit-trap Yang almost fell into.

"Since when are there traps here?" Ruby asked as she tidied herself up.

"Mr. Cole said he prepared the venue… I guess it would only make sense that the assessment won't be that easy." Ren deduced. "This is not a simple forest run. This is an obstacle course."

"But don't you think this is going too far?" Weiss asked as she pointed at the pit-trap. "It's night, and we don't have enough lighting to spot things with trees and foliages in our way."

"Wooden spike as it might be, the fall isn't too deep." Blake said as she looked down at the dark pit with her night-vision. "I think it's safe to assume that Sterling made these traps while taking our Aura into account."

"That bastard…" Yang grinned wolfishly as she cracked her knuckles. "I'm so gonna break his legs when I get back."

"Did someone just say breaking legs?!" Nora gasped ecstatically, eliciting a sigh from Ren.

"No, Nora. Nobody is breaking anybody's legs, even if Mr. Cole might deserve it."

"I don't like this anymore than you do, but keep your cool, Yang." Pyrrha quipped. "We are technically still in grimm territory, remember? Let's not attract anything nasty while we are still miles away from school."

Yang took a deep breath to calm herself, followed by everyone else. A few seconds after, Jaune then spoke first. "Alright, gods know how many traps Sterling might have set up on the way back to Beacon, so I think we should move in a single file. We can't afford to be separated in case one of us gets caught in a trap."

"Jaune's right." Ruby nodded before she turned to her team. "Blake, I need you to lead us at the front. We will need your night-vision to spot any traps ahead." the Faunus nodded in understanding. "Weiss, I need you to back Blake up, your Glyphs might come in handy to intercept the traps."

"Fair enough." The heiress complied.

"Let's see, who's next…" Ruby looked around everyone while she also considered herself to be the next in line.

"Pyrrha and I can follow behind Weiss and Blake." Jaune put in his two-cents. "I'll be honest, both of us are the tallest here. If the two in front got into trouble, either of us should have a long enough reach to support them."

Ruby blinked at Jaune's idea - that actually had some merit; Jaune and Pyrrha were a little taller than Yang. She looked at everyone else, who nodded in agreement. "Okay, I got your back." Ruby then turned to the rest. "Yang, can you watch my back?"

"Do you even need to ask?" the brawler smiled at her little sister who smiled back.

"Ren and Nora, I need you two to be our rear guard, in any case if anything tries to flank us."

"You got it!" Nora saluted while Ren merely nodded.

Ruby then looked at everyone, who silently voiced that they had no objections to the current arrangement. "Okay, now we have our formation decided, let's move out!"

* * *

 **Omake**

It was one of the times where Claude would visit Patch to catch up with Tai Yang. However, the visit this time was because Tai asked his old friend a favour, regarding a certain dusty old crow.

Qrow had been quite a fan of good drink ever since his academy days, but it was merely on occasions, like when Claude invited him, for example. Years after graduation, however, Qrow's drinking habit had grown into an unhealthy alcoholism. Summer's passing only made his case even worse. Considering that Qrow tended to listen to the leader of team STRQ; Tai thought, if the said leader's brother were to talk some sense into him, perhaps he could cure Qrow out of his drinking habits. After all, Claude himself was a team-leader and technically their seniors, it was worth a shot.

So here Claude was, per Tai's request, trying to get Qrow to stop drinking. However, Claude himself had absolutely no idea what he should do. After all, the patient in question was more busy chugging down his drinking flask than listening to him; he kept talking in slurs, as well as going off the tangent every one minute. Basically, Qrow was shit-faced drunk and probably would not listen to him any time soon.

Hence, his last idea; after asking Tai to lend him the Xiao-Long's family car - Zippy, Claude was driving Qrow to the only tavern which was at the other side of Patch. On a side-note, Claude was glad that he was still remembering how to drive after Roman had once taught him how to steal a car, which was a story to another time.

"So, Zapper, what are we doing here?" Qrow slurred after he took another sip from his flask, as Zippy parked outside the bar.

"So you like being drunk?" Claude asked in a taunting manner as he turned off the engine. "Fine, I'm gonna get you so drunk until you don't want to drink again. Now come on, move your wrinkled ass." He got out of the car with Qrow drunkenly following suit.

Yes, that was Claude's final resort - overexposure to make Qrow feeling sick at alcohol and hangover. He had confidence in his alcohol tolerance, and Qrow himself was already tripping himself, this should not take long. They walked in, got themselves a table, and Claude did not waste any time to order a couple glasses of Martini with olive fruits. Qrow opted to take the fruit out of his glass, while Claude prefered to eat his.

"O-okay, err, um…" Qrow raised up his glass for a toast, thinking his next words for a second. "To the Faunus folks. Thanks for taking it all in stride." Then both men had their toast and downed their glasses.

A few hours later, olive fruits had piled up on their table as they just drank their nth glasses. Claude had started to look worse for wear, while Qrow was singing in a surprisingly high pitch despite his hoarse voice. "I'm a cursed black cat~ I'm an albatross~ I'm a mirror broken~ Sad to say, I'm your bad luck charm~..." He sighed and asked his drinking partner. "Was that… Was that good?"

"Oh, gods…" Claude moaned while wiping stray tears from his eyes, before he smiled towards Qrow. "Thank you, bro." Then the two shared a high-five.

At this point, Claude had completely forgotten about his goals for the night, as he and Qrow were busy playing the local game machine in the bar.

"Get- get the fruit, there's more points! Get the fruit!"

"I'm not gonna get the fruit."

"Get the fucking fruit!"

"I can't- I can't get the fruit!"

"N-no, no, get the fruit-"

"I'm not gonna get the fucking fruit!"

"Yes, you can-"

"I can't get the fucking fruit, okay?! There's a ghost over there!"

It was nearly past mid-night when Claude and Qrow finally thought they had enough. They both were on the way out with the former bringing a plastic bag of olives from their martinis. "I can't believe you saved all of those." the latter pointed at the bag of fruits in Claude's hand.

"T-the gir- the girls…" Claude slurred as he stared at his olives. "G-girl, the girls, d'you- you think the girls at Beacon will like these?"

"Haa…. You got more lil' sweeties!" Qrow teased, receiving a frown from Claude in return.

"Shaddup!"

The two then presumed their trek to the door, and Qrow paused in front of Claude. "Err, y-y'know what, g-give me your keys."

"Ah, no, I'm fine." Claude refused.

"No, no, give me your keys…" Qrow insisted.

"I'm fine- I'm driving, ree!" Claude also kept refusing in return.

"Give me your keys, you're too drunk!"

"I'm okay!"

"Tai, Ruby, Summer, Zapper, you're too- Zapper, you're too drunk..." Qrow hiccuped, "...To drive."

"I- I.. I'm I'M…" Claude paused with absent-minded look in his eyes before he fished out his car-keys and handed it to Qrow's open palm. "You- you're - err… you're right... Here- here you go."

Then the two walked out to the parking lot.

oXo

Tai glanced at the clock to find it was already morning - too long for Claude in attempt to cure Qrow's alcoholism since last night. He finished his cup of coffee and put the mug inside the sink to wash later, before he turned the television on to pass time. There was a breaking news report and the headline caused Tai to freeze on where he stood before he groaned and placed his face in his hands.

 **"This was a scene taken from Patch's local tavern last night as a car driven by an intoxicated huntsman caused a thousands of lien worth of damage."** the news-anchor reported on the television.

The news broadcast showcased an accident occurring in a tavern where Claude and Qrow were drinking; Mr. Zippy could be seen inside the building, its front having broken through the front wall with both Claude and Qrow inside with intoxicated expression. News crew and cameramen were surrounding the car, along with the bar-owner who was not amused and glaring at the two drunken huntsmen inside the car.

 **"Put this- put this on my tab."** Claude simply commented with a grin from his seat, facing the annoyed-looking bar owner.

Qrow himself did not make things any easier with his own two-cents. **"He was, he was like all, 'slow down!', y'know? And I was like, 'whoaaa'! But I couldn't stop it."**

As the news report kept going, Tai himself was already up and looking for his own liquor stash. Once again, he really missed Summer.

* * *

 **There you go, folks! Regarding the breathing idea thing, I decided to give it a shot after watching Jaune's training montage in Atlas in vol. 7. Anyway, please review! Constructive only, please! Ahsoei, over and out.**


	24. Semester Break (I)

**RWBY: The Redeemer**

* * *

 **Beta-read by Starlight's Poet**

 **Chapter 23: Semester Break (I)**

"Gyaah!"

"Whoa!"

"Oh, shit!"

"Ouch!"

"Stay in formation! Don't break up!"

"Incoming boulder! Dammit, this is the sixth one already, where did he get so much rocks from?!"

Team RWBY and JNPR were doing an admirable job in coordinating their trek through the forest, avoiding one trap after another. Blake's night-vision, Weiss' versatility, Pyrrha's reflex, Ruby and Jaune's quick-thinking, Yang's strength, along with Ren and Nora's survival skills, had helped them in making steady progress through their supplementary assessment.

All of them had seen better days; there was no injury, but they were covered in dirt and dust, even some of them had their clothes singed and torn from forcing their way through the forest's foliages. Behind them were the remnants and the results of Claude's handiwork in setting up the venue - pit-falls, arrows, snare-traps, large rocks and boulders as well as tree-barks littering the forest floor. None of them were enough to badly injure them, but certainly enough to deal serious damage on their Aura. The fact that only Blake could see their surroundings clearly at night did not help much their cases.

However, not only the traps, their energy was also under another issue; since they assumed the supplementary assessment would be… anything which was not _this_ , they had yet to have dinner when they departed, opting to eat after the assessment. They were wrong, and had to run through forests filled with traps and obstacles with empty stomachs. Their solemn silver-lining was the fact that they would not need to worry about Creatures of Grimm coming their way for the next few hours.

Still, despite the hunger and the fatigue, Ruby felt a small semblance of 'safety' over her and her team - as if there was some sort of a protective dome encompassing the area they were at. She looked up, and the only thing she could see through the thick trees were the night sky, as well as a few glimpses of the Bullhead aircraft where Sterling was on.

oXo

Claude was having a bird's eye-view from the aircraft high in the sky, spectating the trees of the forest below shaking from the triggered traps he had set up for his students. Listening their screams also meant that they were not down for the count. Still, the amount of distress coursing through them would eventually attract the Grimm from outside the Emerald Forest. Ozpin had assisted to make sure that proper security measures had been in place, but Claude would rather not take any chances.

"Are we still good to fly, Ann?" Claude asked the pilot - Ann Greene, Beacon Academy's security and stealth instructor.

"We are, but we will need to refuel in the next few hours. Do you think those children will make it by the time we need to go back as well?" Ann asked as she let the Bullhead fly on auto-pilot.

"Hmm….. Judging from their progress, I think they will. Then again, we will hang around above them just in case."

"Roger that." Ann nodded. The flight then went on in silence as Claude remained watchful on the happenings below. A few minutes later, Ann decided to strike up a conversation. "...Say, Sterling? Mind if I ask you something?"

Sterling Cole's last-minute induction into the professor's ranks, even as an interim, was a little unexpected for Ann and her colleague, Harold. After all, judging from his appearance, as well as his own admittance, Sterling was at least a new huntsman graduate. Normally he would need at least a couple years of experience to qualify a teacher's requirements. However, when the headmaster had the young man to be in charge of the student's initiation, she could not deny that despite his young age, Sterling had proven to be a golden egg, talented enough to be on par on a professional level.

The man in question glanced at her and shrugged. "Depends on what you want to ask, but… Sure, fire away."

"Who are you, really?" Ann went straight to the point. Considering that security was her field of expertise, she had developed some sort of intuition, or perhaps habit to detect some workings behind the scenes. "I saw the footage of the initiation; even if your opponents were simply prep-school graduates, I should have at least heard of someone with that kind of skill. But you just…. Seemingly appeared from thin air."

Claude could not help but feel impressed. Yet, at the same time, it was not the time to reveal his cards yet. At Ann's questioning looks, he simply smiled while meeting her eyes. "I'm a simple huntsman. Nothing more."

A humble tone was something Ann could appreciate, but the reply was still too simple for her liking. "Really? No offence, but it's kind of strange for a simple huntsman to get along so quickly with the older faculties like Professor Port, Doctor Oobleck, Professor Peach, even Professor Goodwitch. Not to mention, if the story I heard was to be believed, Professor Port would have bragged about having an apprentice like you ages ago."

"What can I say? Don't you think the pops was merely having some kind of moment?" Claude carefully picked his words. Not necessarily a lie - after spending time together as students themselves, Claude knew that his old friends had a few moments when they could act out of character from time to time. Hell, _everyone_ on the planet does.

Ann stared at her young colleague for a while. Obviously he was not telling the truth, at least not entirely, but at the same time, she could not sense any sort of malice or hostility coming from him. That was a silver-lining - for all intents and purposes, at least Sterling Cole did not mean any harm towards Beacon, not to mention that Ozpin recruited him personally. The fact that veteran like Peter Port, Bartholomew Oobleck, Thumbelina Peach and Glynda Goodwitch got along with him, gave Ann enough reason to give a benefit of doubt.

Ann was about to speak further when Claude suddenly jerked his head towards a direction. "...Heads up. I sensed something." he then pointed at the direction and Ann wordlessly looked at the Bullhead's radar.

There actually _was_ something, but Ann found they were weak signatures. "Looks like the children are starting to get frustrated. But negativity of eight people is not enough to attract a horde nor an elder grimm. They are still miles away, anyway; and looking from their movement pattern, they are not that interested yet." The fact that Sterling could sense a small pack of Grimm from that distance caused Ann to look strangely at the man. "Speaking of, how can you tell? Do you have a Foresight Semblance or something?"

The young man only shrugged while keeping his gaze at the view before him. "I won't call it 'foresight', but… I'm not sure. I just know." Claude then crouched as he used Ruby's Crescent Rose in its rifle form to scope their surroundings.

"Um, you're not gonna fire that thing, are you?" Ann asked with a slightly worried tone. Hit or not, firing at the Grimm at this point would only serve as an unnecessary provocation.

"No, don't worry." Claude calmly replied as he focused himself. "Just… making sure that nothing comes too close." His eyes then glowed softly through the scope.

Ann noticed that the Grimm on her radar had stopped moving closer. Hell, some of them even walked away. Did they lose interest? Dispute among themselves? Whatever the reason, she could not help to feel that her young colleague - who was still vigilant behind her, had something to do with the current development. Nonetheless, she would not complain as long as there were no problems occuring.

It was a minor technique when Claude used the power of his silver eyes. The easiest way to describe the technique is to view it as an 'intimidation'. Despite their malevolent nature, Creatures of Grimm displayed several behaviours of normal wildlife; during a territorial dispute, weaker grimm would avoid confrontation and acted more subservient towards its more powerful brethren, sometimes even animals that were strong enough to kill them if the situation called for it. Claude was doing something similar; the Creatures of Grimm at the outskirts of Emerald Forest would sense a presence which they would rather avoid. Of course, this 'intimidation' technique would not work against Grimm that had amassed enough power and experience.

The air-patrol went by without much incident until dawn.

* * *

It took gods-forsaken _hours_ , but both team RWBY and JNPR finally made it to their destination after avoiding, escaping, and occasionally getting caught by numerous booby traps that their teacher had laid on the entire Emerald Forest. Their skins were covered in soot and dirt, some of their clothings were singed and torn, and they were _hungry_ , as well as exhausted - they could barely stand as each pair supported their partners.

They got on the Bullhead extracting them without any fuss, and during their brief flight - much to their disbelief, the whole night had passed as they watched the sun rising from the horizon. When they landed, Sterling _freaking_ Cole stood in front of them with an audacity smiling proudly. "...So." he began. "Who's having fun last night?"

Then, the exhausted students came with a new vigor in a form of angry yells.

"YOU SADISTIC SON OF A BITCH!"

"I WILL MAKE YOUR INSIDES YOUR OUTSIDES THEN YOUR INSIDES AGAIN!"

"WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU HAVE AGAINST MY ASS!?"

"ALL OF MY _HATE_!"

Much to Claude's amusement and _relief_ none of those came from Ruby as the young girl was seemingly too exhausted to feel upset, although she was shooting him the best pouty glare she could muster. "Glad to hear it. Allow me to first congratulate you on completing your supplementary assessment. Now, I know you're all hungry and tired, so I'll make this brief." Claude then paused for a second. "Since we are nearing vacation, I suggest you kids look back to this moment, as well as your practical. What did you lack? What can you improve? I want all of you to spare some free time to reflect on your past performances."

The students _actually_ listened as some of their faces had contemplative expressions. Nonetheless, whether they took his words into heart or not, Claude had said his piece. "I guess that would be all. Breakfast has been prepared in the refectory, so get a good bite and a good rest. You all have more than earned it."

When the students' faces lit up at the prospect of food and relaxation, Claude nodded and took his leave. The students spent another fews seconds in contemplative silence before their stomachs managed to urge them to find some food. It did not take long for them to arrive in the dining hall and found that rich breakfast had been prepared. All of the students then immediately grabbed their favourite dishes, regardless of the diet, and settled on a table.

It only took a few minutes until they had finished half of their meal. Their eating became more subdued once the adrenaline and the tension died down with a calm morning atmosphere. A few minutes later, Yang glanced at her sister who was munching on her plate of cookies - Yang would have to chide Ruby's choice of breakfast again, but for once, she decided to let it go, considering what they had gone through. "...Something on your mind, sis?"

Ruby glanced back at her older sister - she could read her just like that; as she swallowed her sugary breakfast. "...Just thinking back on what Sterling said."

Soft grumbles were heard between bites as everybody was still sour about the so-called supplementary assessment. Still, they did not comment in favour of listening to what Ruby had in mind. It was kind of common knowledge that the girl had a crush on the young teacher, despite her protests. However, even Yang was still a tad too tired to do some teasing games.

Taking the silence as the cue for her to speak, Rubu did so, "Do you guys still remember how we did during the practical?"

Everyone nodded; regardless of the result, they knew that in front of their teachers - veteran huntsman and huntress, they were hopelessly and painfully outmatched.

"Tell me about it..." Yang spoke as she jabbed her fork onto her meat. "We did pass, but Prof- _Doctor_ Oobleck wasn't even winded by the time we finished."

"Professor Port literally overpowered us, Ruby and I both." Blake quipped. "We're still not sure what hit us in the end."

"Ugh, I'm pretty sure that Goodwitch didn't even move an inch while wiping the floor with us." Jaune was surprised that Nora - who slumped on her empty plate, noted that one detail in the midst of chaos.

"...And I don't think Mr. Cole went all out on us too." Ren finally spoke, with Pyrrha nodding in agreement as well.

"But don't you people think the teachers had set the bar a little too high? We're only in our first years." Weiss commented.

"Maybe, but the fact did not change that we need to improve if we really want to be huntress and huntsman." Ruby replied. "Not to mention, the Vytal Festival is coming this year, right? They're probably preparing us _because_ we are the only first-year students; who knows what kind of opponents we might end up against." Once again, the girl brought up another fair point. "That's why, I propose team RWBY to have a training camp during vacation!"

Everyone perked up at the idea, once she confirmed she had garnered everyone's interest, she carried on the lay out the rest of her plan, "Our dad is a combat-school teacher back in Patch, as well as licensed huntsman. Me and Yang-"

"Yang and I." Weiss automatically corrected her partner's phrasing.

Ruby rolled her eyes with a small scoff but she carried on. "...Are planning to spend our break time back home, so why don't we train as well? Dad can definitely give us a pointer or two, and if we're lucky, our Uncle Qrow might be around to help out as well."

"That sounds…" Yang's face slowly lit up. "...Pretty cool, actually. Yeah, I can definitely get behind that." She then turned to her partner. "What do you say, Blakey?"

The girl in question thought for a few seconds - she did not really have any plans over the break; she felt a little bad to intrude in Ruby and Yang's home, but the former did invite her for a training camp - which sounded quite productive considering she needed to improve herself; so it was not as if she planned to mooch off her hospitality or anything. "Sure, I guess I can come if you don't mind." She shrugged.

Eyes then trailed to Weiss, who was looking a tad conflicted. "I don't know. I mean, doesn't your father have anything to say here? I'd rather not intrude…"

Yang laughed with a wave of her hand. "Bah, it will be fine! In fact, dad's gonna be happy to meet our new team! Can't let the old man feel lonely all the time, y'know?"

Weiss sighed; Yang's crass joke aside, Weiss had planned to stay at Beacon during the break - no way she was going back to Atlas and her father's company. Not to mention, it was not as if she was coming along just for fun; unorthodox as it sounded, Ruby's idea for training camp could benefit their performance in the long run. The 40th Vytal Festival is nearing, after all. "...Fine, I suppose it's only for a few days."

"Then it's settled!" Ruby smiled and clapped her hands in approval. She then turned to her sister-team. "What about the rest of you guys? I can try to talk to dad for extra guests."

Team JNPR glanced at one another, Nora in particular looked eager. A few nods and eye-contacts later, Jaune smiled. "Thanks, but no thanks. We have our own plan of training camp too, after all. Besides, I'm pretty sure Sterling has something planned for me during the break."

Ruby looked dejected for a second, but she nodded eventually. "Okay! If you change your mind, you know my Scroll number!"

Hence, the breakfast was concluded with the first-year students planning for their semester break.

* * *

The next day finally came where the students of Beacon Academy would enjoy two-week long vacation until the day of the second semester began. After saying quick goodbyes, team JNPR watched RWBY boarding the airship heading from Vale to the island of Patch.

Meanwhile, Claude was making a phone-call in his room, as he watched the airship flying to a distance. "...So Ruby has called you about bringing her team home for a training session?"

 **"Yeah, she has. It's kind of surprising coming from her, but I'm proud of her, making new friends and leading them like this."**

Claude smiled while nodding at Taiyang speaking from his Scroll.

 **"...By the way, what did you put them through? While I'm glad that Ruby wants to improve herself, it's kind of out of her character to spend her vacation to train like this. Yang as well."**

Claude hummed for a second before replying, "Just some exercises, pointers, maybe ass-beating. I actually leave everything up to them for how they want to spend their break. Oh, I also just got in touch with Qrow. You probably have to hide or throw your booze away." He said with a joking tone.

 **"Yeah, definitely noted."** Tai responded in kind, then his tone shifted. **"Say, Claude…. Regarding your visit you told me about the other day… I'm happy that you want to come clean to those girls, but are you sure you want to do this? I mean, this is some huge, complicated stuff we're about to dump on them."**

"Tai, it's only a matter of time until some people who recognize my face will appear at Vytal Festival. Unless we want to deal with more unwanted questions, I say I might as well go big while we still have some control over the situation."

The 40th Vytal Festival was around the corner; students and other huntsman from all over Remnant would congregate in Beacon Academy and Vale. From his past talk with Glynda, his team and others - there would definitely be, at least a handful of people who could recognize Claude's face even with his different hairdo. Maintaining his fake identity would be inviting unwanted questions and attention, thus Claude and everyone agreed that revealing his true identity earlier would prevent, or at least mitigate the damage in future. Claude could hear Tai's humming from the other end, most likely him conceding his point.

" **...I guess you have a point there. Actually, I haven't asked yet; how did your talk with Roman go? Did he have anything to say about this?"**

Claude heaved a heavy sigh at Tai's question before replying, "...We came to a compromise, somehow."

" **I take it didn't bode well with him?"**

"That's... a small understatement." Claude trailed off as he looked back at the one particular talk.

oXo

 _"I'm telling you that is a bad idea."_

 _Roman sat on his chair which had been reserved, allowing him to lean down against the back-rest. His face was not too amused, while everyone who heard him merely, either blinked or watched impassively. Taking another drag of his tobacco, Roman carried on. "We are against an enemy that is planning to topple the entire kingdom upside-down without anyone realizing until it's too late, and funnily enough, your sudden return actually gave us another edge over them. Then you were saying you want to throw it out of the window by telling your…_ nieces _?" Roman pursed his lips as if his tongue was tasting something for a second. "...Man, that still sounds a bit weird."_

" _It's not as if our enemies will know." Claude defended._

" _Not right away, sure. But the more mouths that can possibly slip it off, the higher the risk of our plans getting exposed. I say you tell them… I don't know, a week or two before the Vytal Festival?"_

 _Claude sighed before holding up his hand. "Okay, one - that's too long. Two - this kind of thing is like pulling off a band-aid; the sooner the better. Three - dumping this kind of information shortly before the event where they have to focus is not the best idea. Four - there will be huntsmen and huntresses from other Kingdoms who will arrive at Beacon by the time the next semester starts; there will be people from our generation who will recognize my face, so lying that far is pointless. And finally - they're my family, they deserve the truth." he finished as he had pointed all of his points with his fingers._

" _...And you don't think you can keep up that hairdo disguise? You don't have to worry about telling the truth if nobody recognizes you in the end." Roman pointed out._

" _You seriously think nobody has ever seen me with this style 20 years ago?" Claude aimed at his own locks. "Rome, you might have erased a majority of our records from the system, but you can't erase memories from people. Besides, all of us know that it's only a matter of time until everybody knows who I really am. Might as well reveal it while we're still in control."_

 _The room went silent for a few moments as they watched Roman taking Claude's words into account. Then, the huntsman-turned-thief took another drag and blew out a cloud of smoke before he leveled his stare at Claude's silver orbs._

oXo

"...But don't worry. Like I said, we have a compromise." Claude finished.

" **I see…"** Tai paused for a second, as if understanding the whole picture. **"...Then I guess I can only wish you good luck by the time you're here. Don't worry though, Qrow and I'll be with you."**

"I'd rather say that I'll do this on my own, but… Thanks, Tai." Claude smiled before he remembered something else. "Oh, by the way. Are you sure that you've given me all of my and Summer's belongings, back when I was at your house?"

" **Yeah, why? Is something wrong?"**

"Well, nothing too big, but I missed one photograph. It's a picture of Summer and I took together when she got into Beacon. Do you remember? You're the one who took that picture."

" **...Oh, that."** Taiyang replied as if he just remembered, then his tone turned a tad sheepish. **"Sorry, I never really looked inside so I didn't know what's there and what's not. Summer might have dropped it somewhere and forgot about it. You know how clumsy she can be at times."**

"I guess you have a point there." Claude shrugged with a mildly amused smile.

" **Do you want me to find it for you?"**

"Nah, don't sweat it. It's just a picture - an important one, sure, but I already have more with me." Claude glanced at his wardrobe where he stashed his time-capsule. "Besides, if Summer lost it, then it could be outside the island by now."

" **If you say so. I'll see you later, Claude. The kids should be arriving soon."**

"Yeah, bye. Have fun with them." Claude bid Taiyang goodbye and ended the call. He sighed as he watched the sky outside the window, until he decided to get up and walk out of his room to find some work to do, or perhaps to let the work come to him.

* * *

Turns out Ruby and Yang's description about Island of Patch did not do enough justice to the real deal, as Blake and Weiss took in the surrounding scenery upon arrival. Simply put, they could only say the amount of buildings and forest on the island was not balanced against the former. The town was dwarfed by the surrounding forest, but there were enough buildings to house a sizable population complete with adequate public facilities such as schools, clinics, town-hall, local law enforcements, etc. The team arrived at the port where there were a couple of watchtowers and guard-posts at the edge of the main town complex; they were enough to survey the land and spot any potential threats.

"Ah, good to be home again." Ruby said as she took in the fresh air of Patch as she led her friends through the port complex with Yang right behind her. When they arrived at the check-point, the patrolmen and guards who saw Ruby and Yang only nodded in recognition and let them pass.

"Um, is it okay for us to just walk in like that? They didn't even ask our names." Weiss asked as she looked back at the check-point. Strangely enough, some other passengers were stopped and had to go through some security-checks - her concern was also shared with Blake.

"When you live on an island with only a few hundred people, you get to know everyone after a while." Yang explained as she pointed her thumb briefly at one patrolman. "See that guy behind that counter? That's Mr. Mallari, his mother owns a farm not far from our house. Both Ruby and I used to visit them for errands from time to time." She then sported her signature teasing smirk as she glanced at Ruby. "...Not to mention, ever since Ruby told everyone at Signal that she got accepted into Beacon two years early, everybody on Patch knows about my little sister; she's practically a small-time celebrity here."

"Ugh, Yang, can you not remind me of that?" Ruby groaned as she pulled her hood over her head in embarrassment.

"Ruby, your red hood is already more than enough to attract people's attention on the first glance." Yang retorted in amusement.

"I don't think it's that bad, I mean…" Blake commented as she looked around. Sure, there were some people who threw glances and looked at them, particularly at Ruby in recognition, but they did not flock over them. "People here are pretty laid-back." All she heard was merely hushed and excited whispers; nerve-wrecking, but not entirely unpleasant.

"Well, you should come and see this place during winter." Yang mused. "Weather is so cold that almost no work can be done, so people stay at home most of the day."

The newcomers nodded as the team trekked through the town complex. Some of the townsfolk would wave and even greet Ruby and Yang, who would return their gestures in kind. Overall, the atmosphere was completely calming, compared to the bustling city like Vale. "This really is a nice place." Blake mused as she looked at the greenery around her.

"I know, right?" Yang grinned proudly. "Makes you want to come over again, doesn't it?"

"Don't push your luck now. I haven't seen what kind of hovel you live in." Blake returned with her own smirk, then easily dodged Yang's retaliation in front of a light jab.

"We're here!" Ruby announced as she stopped on her tracks. The team stopped in front of a well-built wooden house. Weiss knew that it was what people called a 'humble abode', compared to her house at Atlas. However, she would not deny the entire estate felt more like home compared to hers.

Ruby dashed forward and was about to open the door when Yang quickly stopped her by her shoulder. The blonde put a finger before her lips which was grinning knowingly, which Ruby also returned with her knowing one and a nod. Weiss and Blake watched Yang gently turning the doorknob open and walking into the house, the heiress raised her eyebrows and glanced at Blake, who only shook her head helplessly. As soon as Yang had stepped through the door, she yelled with a shit-eating grin on her face. "Hey, pops!"

Crashing and mild-panic noise could be heard from the kitchen, as a man's voice was heard next. "Yang! What the he-!?"

"Language!" Yang quickly interrupted while keeping her grin on.

"...Oh, right." Taiyang's voice subdued as he noticed his near slip-up. The rest of the girls who had followed after Yang had shouted, were met with the sight of a man whose appearance can immediately be related to the blonde girl.

"This matter isn't over." Tai shot Yang a quick, mild glare, which the girl casually waved off, before he showed the rest a sheepish smile. "Sorry you had to see that. I'm Taiyang Xiao-Long, Yang and Ruby's dad. No need to call me 'sir' or 'Mr. Xiao-Long' or anything along those lines, it makes me feel old. Just call me Tai, we never really care about formalities."

Seemingly snapped out of their funk, Weiss and Blake immediately introduced themselves. Tai took their first impression well enough as he shook both of their hands. "I've heard about you both from my daughters. Thanks for looking after them."

Weiss immediately schooled her features on reflex. "Your daughter, Ruby, has been doing well too."

"Yang can be handful, but she's also reliable." Blake replied with a cordial smile.

"Still, thank you." Tai nodded before his smile slipped off as he turned to address his daughters again. Weiss and Blake did not expect to see the man proceeded to smack both of his daughters' heads.

"Ow, what's that for?!" Yang protested while massaging the sore spot.

" _That's_ for doing something as stupid as trying to take on the White Fang by yourselves." Taiyang replied his daughter sternly, his equally stern gaze was also thrown at both Weiss and Blake briefly as well. "Ozpin was kind enough to inform me of the details about what happened that night, and you're lucky that… Sterling was there to save your butts. What in the world were you thinking? Or were you even thinking at all?"

Needlessly said that Blake caught the brief pause in Tai's speech.

"We stopped them from stealing the Dust!" Ruby defended before she blinked at one detail. "Hang on, dad. So you've been keeping in touch with Sterling?"

"Don't divert the subject, young lady. While I'm glad that you did stop them, did you ever stop and think how I felt when Ozpin told me that you were the ones who had engaged around tens of armed, angry Faunus; Roman Torchwick, and a couple of weaponized Bullheads? Do you think I enjoy learning that you throw yourselves into danger while you're still trainees? This is why we have a qualified huntsman! You should've left this to Sterling to deal with."

All of the girls looked away in shame, with Yang grumbling under her breath. Neither of them wanted to make any eye-contact.

"So, do you have anything to say about this?" Tai then asked them after a few seconds.

The entire team collectively apologized, "We are sorry."

Tai then smiled, "Don't get me wrong here. I'm proud of you all; but next time, think of the consequences before you act - I mean _all_ consequences, not just those which apply to yourselves; how others may be affected by your decisions in both short and long run, as well as how they will think. It's one of the essentials if you want to become a successful huntress."

Tai then went silent for a moment, watching the girls taking his words into the heart. Once he was satisfied, he then put his hands on Yang's and Ruby's shoulders before he pulled them into an identical one-armed hug, which they returned. "Give it some thought whenever you are free, okay?" He then let go and addressed all of the girls. "Now that's out of the way, how about you tell me about other things you've been getting into?"

* * *

Inside the dorm, Jaune just received another mail on his Scroll. Looking at the context and the electronic file attached, he figured it was another new training regimen from Sterling. He would be lying if he did not find the arrangement as strange; considering that being 'sponsored' is equal to being taken as an apprentice, Jaune had been expecting to receive some personal tutoring from the man himself. However, all he received was a sheet of paper consisting of his training regimen and an instruction for him to complete it with his team.

Then again, when he shared his thoughts and Sterling's message with his team, Pyrrha actually believed that the practice was nothing uncommon. Combined with Nora and Ren's vouching as well, Jaune had to agree. Welp, as long as he could learn to become a huntsman, he'd take what he could.

"So, you guys ready to go?" Jaune asked his team after he had finished putting on his clothes.

"Way ahead of ya, fearless leader!" Nora was always the first one to answer.

"Ready when you are." followed by Pyrrha's more modest reply, and Ren only replied with a nod.

The team was clad in casual clothes, in contrast to their usual combat gear; or at least something that did not scream 'huntsman or huntress'. Ren and Nora's usual clothes could actually pass off as casual clothes. Their financial background could not really allow them to spend too much for things other than necessities.

Jaune and Pyrrha, on the other hand, were different - The former had forgone his armour; leaving him with his usual jeans, sneakers and Pumpkin Pete hoodie, which garnered a massive laughter from Nora and a reserved giggle from Pyrrha. What's wrong with his hoodie? Pumpkin Pete is famous, Jaune was merely following the trend. Not to mention, it was comfy that Jaune could wear it anywhere as long as the weather was not too extreme.

Pyrrha on the other hand, was wearing a pair of sandal shoes, denim shorts, and a white shirt covered with a matching black jacket. She completed her looks by bundling her red locks into a hat on her head and thick-rimmed black glasses on her eyes.

Nora could not help but whistle. "Wow, Pyrrha. You look totally different in that."

"Does it look good?" Pyrrha asked nervously. "I'm sorry, I'd rather not run into…. Certain group of people…"

The team 'oh' and nodded in understanding. Pyrrha's get-ups were meant for disguise. "We understand, Pyrrha. You look great in that." Jaune said with a sincere smile, which was accompanied with Ren and Nora's nodding.

The so-called invincible girl's face went almost as red as her own hair at the compliment, but she still managed to smile. "Thanks, Jaune. You look dashing as well."

Ren smiled in a mild amusement while Nora quietly snickered at the pair's interaction. Jaune on the other hand, only smiled although he could not help but think that Pyrrha was being nice. "Thanks."

The plan was to visit Vale for fun - eating, shopping, sightseeing, and enjoying whatever else the Kingdom could offer. It was meant to be an ice-breaking session before they would commit themselves for improvement during the course of vacation.

The ice-breaking began without much implication, aside from Nora's shenanigans. The group started the day with lunch, since it was around noon when they flew out from Beacon and arrived on Vale. Pyrrha was a bit anxious about people recognizing her, but with Jaune's support and Nora's boisterous attitude that drew the most of attention, she was able to enjoy what she had been longing ever since she hit her teenage years - being normal.

"Well, who's up for some exercise after a meal?" Jaune was on a roll as he and his team were walking through the streets with the girls doing occasional window shopping.

"Me, me, me, me!" ten points for those who could guess who said that.

Pyrrha giggled while Ren merely smiled at his childhood friend's attitude. Jaune then nodded. "If I'm not mistaken, there's an arcade not far from here. Let's check it out."

Only a minute of walking later, they ran into something, or more like, someone. It was a man whose presence was enough to cause Jaune to stop on his tracks as soon as their eyes met. The boy went rigid as he did not leave his eyes off the man. His friends were about to ask what was wrong, but they ended up not to when they saw the face of the man before them. Wide frame, tall, blonde and possessing a pair of blue eyes not unlike Jaune himself. In fact, Nora could have sworn that she was looking at 'Jauney-mirror'; the man's face alone was a huge enough hint for them to guess who it was.

"Dad?!"

The man - Ashton Arc, only flashed a friendly smile at his son's reaction. "Hello, Jaune."

oXo

"Back up, back up. So this new teacher ended up eliminating the rest of the initiates, leaving only you and one other team as the only first-years? That's… huh, I'm not sure what to say about that."

"Yeah, this guy was like, super cool! He's strong, nice, funny, and the best part is, he let me test out his newest weapon! He's probably even cooler than Uncle Qrow!"

Tai could only watch in amusement as his youngest daughter re-telling her experience in Beacon, or to be precise, _mostly_ her impression about a certain young teacher, who happened to be his brother-in-law in disguise. It was rather unexpected to have her to regard someone who was 'cooler' than Qrow, considering that she used to idolize and was taught by the latter.

Yang only intervened occasionally to fill in some holes in Ruby's excitable tale, while Blake and Weiss simply took the whole conversation in stride while enjoying their refreshments - courtesy of Taiyang himself.

Truth to be told, Tai was half-expecting the stunts and shenanigans that Claude had pulled off in Ruby's story; altering the tradition of initiation and kicking out nearly all of the initiates, defeating _the_ Pyrrha Nikos in one-on-one and several senior years in three-on-one, helping them capture a bunch of terrorists and Roman Torchwick. However, Tai could not help but be a little worried when Ruby mentioned that Claude, or Sterling, had also been helping her in her school work. Wasn't he coddling her too much?

Then again, considering the true nature of their relationship, perhaps Tai should have expected for Claude to treat Ruby in such a way. He could only hope his old friend did not take it too far. "Sounds like Sterling has been doing a good job to you four." Tai remarked with brief glances at his daughter's team.

"I suppose he did help us when we ran into a wall." Weiss spoke as she nodded with a small smile on her face, and Blake also nodded in agreement while sporting a rare smile.

"...Yeah, he's pretty cool, I admit." Yang shrugged.

Ruby was humming with a proud and fond smile, which was kind of weird for Tai; not to mention, her cheeks were faintly pink.

"Et tu, Rubes?" Yang immediately interrupted with another of her teasing grin. "...You're having that look again." In response, Ruby yelped again as she pulled her hood on the reflex to cover her face.

"Whoa, you okay there, sweetie?" Tai asked with a light-hearted tone, although with a hint of concern.

"You gotta hear this, pops." Yang began and Ruby's face immediately shot up to shake her head frantically, silently asking Yang to not speak any further. "Remember when I told you that Ruby's got a crush? That's- Hey!" Yang was suddenly interrupted by Ruby who tackled her with her Semblance, causing the sisters to engage in a small wrestling on the floor.

While Blake and Weiss were watching the sisters fighting with a mix of amusement and exasperation, Tai was having something else in his mind. The way Ruby spoke about Claude, her reaction, and finally, one of his past phone-calls with Claude himself; the father of the two girls connected the dots which was concluded to be another can of worms.

 _Oh, shit_.

* * *

 **Just a little announcement about a small change; some of you might have realized, that I've changed the name for Jaune's father. Because not only the previous one doesn't really associate with any color, it's a little off considering who I derived it from, that's all. Please review with constructive comments, people. Ahsoei, over and out.**


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